


Dirty Jobs

by catboxjellyfish



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Humor, Black Romance, Dark, Drama, Friendship, Gang Violence, Gangs, Illegal Activities, M/M, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-04-12 21:37:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4495602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catboxjellyfish/pseuds/catboxjellyfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>EXO is an underground group in Seoul that will do anything, meaning they will take any job you give them as long as you pay the appropriate price. You can ask them to find someone, or you can ask them to make someone disappear. They will do the dirty jobs no one else is willing to do. / Ongoing with slow updates /</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Character introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I'm warning you now there is no happy ending.

** **

**Xiumin – The Leader **

  * He used to be the leader of a youth gang and was feared for his fighting skills and ruthlessness. He has wide connections in the underground world. 
  * He quit the gang when his best friend, Luhan, became a comatose patient because of a gang related accident. 
  * Xiumin and Luhan are both orphans and grew up together. 
  * On the side, he has opened a coffee shop.The coffee shop is usually the hangout/meet-up place for EXO members. 
  * He has a pair of sharp cat eyes, but a baby face. People often underestimate him because of his baby face. Luhan often calls him “Baozi” because of his round cheeks.
  * He is generally a calm person with great organization and leadership skills. He is also a clean freak. He is always lecturing Chanyeol and Baekhyun about cleaning up. .  



 

****

**Luhan – The Dream Walker **

  * He is an orphan and grew up with Xiumin. He used to be Xiumin’s right-hand man in the youth gang.
  * He fell into a comatose state after getting into a gang related accident, but has somehow developed telepathic abilities. He can also access people’s consciousness through dreams and gather information. However, he can only communicate with Xiumin for some reason; to the others he is just a breathing body on a bed.
  * He tries to help out EXO whenever he can with his ability. He's always feeling guilty because he knows Xiumin started EXO because of him. 
  * He ‘adopted’ Kyungsoo when Kyungsoo was 10 and took care of him until he fell into a coma.  



 

****

**Chanyeol – The Arsonist + Explosion Expert **

  * Known to the police as “The Fire Phoenix” because of his arson activities. Different from other arsonist, instead of setting fire to an entire building, he burns his trademark sign, a large phoenix, on the side of buildings, inside buildings, in public parks or wherever he sees fit. At one point, he was responsible for 20 arson cases in one month.
  * He is also an explosive expert because his father was a special effect specialist – his father passed away when he was 16 while experimenting with a new explosive. 
  * He joined EXO because Xiumin caught him in one of his arson acts, when he was about to set fire to the side of Xiumin’s coffee shop. Xiumin threated to hand him over to the police at first, but when he heard about EXO, he gladly joined because “it sounds like a lot of fun”. 
  * He’s really tall, really lanky and really loud. He can come across as an idiot at first, but he is actually smart and quite sly. He is always wearing a burnt metal ring from his dad.
  * He’s in his early 20s and has no long term goal. He has also made a name for himself by selling his explosives in the underground black market.



 

** **

** Kyungsoo – The Poison Master **

  * He grew up in seclusion in a large mansion outside of the city. He was home-schooled by his mother, a poison expert, and his father, a biohazard scientist. 
  * He didn’t go outside of his house until he was 10 years old. That’s when he first met Xiumin and Luhan in the youth gang. He was ‘adopted’ by Luhan because Luhan thought he looked adorable. Later, he helped Xiumin set up EXO. 
  * He left his house to look for his parents because his parents disappeared while on businesses. He was never sure what his parents did, but he knew it had something to do with the government.
  * Similar to his parents, he is extremely interested in poison and biohazard research. He is continuing the research his parents left behind, and is a master at developing deadly poisons and biological weapons. 
  * He is the shortest and youngest in EXO, being the only teenager. He is extremely pale because he hates going outside. 
  * He tends to show affection through violence, especially towards Baekhyun. 



 

****

**Jongdae – The Hacker + Communications Expert **

  * Definitely the most normal person in EXO. He grew up in a suburban home with his parents and an older brother. His dad was an accountant and his mom was a housewife.
  * He studied computer programming in university, before dropping out because he was so bored with everything. 
  * He is known to the police by his hacker code name “Thunder” and the police are in pursuit of him. He started hacking when he was 14. They once almost caught him, and that’s when he became a client of Xiumin. In exchange for helping him, Xiumin asked him to join EXO. He is the only member who didn’t voluntarily join EXO.  
  * He lied to his parents that EXO is a private company and he works as one of their computer programmers, designing anti-hacking programs all day.  
  * Aside from taking jobs from EXO, he also invests in stocks. He loves money. 
  * He is in his early 20s and has a smile that makes him look like a Cheshire cat. He comes across as a polite, honest young man, but inside he is a sneaky person. He is good at reading people and understanding what they want.



 

****

**Baekhyun – The Con Artist + Professional Thief **

  * His mother is a professional con artist and he grew up traveling the world with her. He has never met his father nor cared for the man's identity. 
  * He learned how to be a good con artist by watching his mother, and he has been trained to pick pockets and locks since he was very young, insisted by his mother that these are vital skills. 
  * The police suspects that he is a con artist, but they do not have enough evidence to convict him. His victims would not testify again him because they always loved him too much. He is a smooth talker and can almost talk himself out of anything. 
  * He joined EXO after spontaneously helping out Chanyeol in one of his jobs because EXO jobs challenged his abilities and skills as a con artist and thief. 
  * He is also in his early 20s, but looks like he could be in high school. His soft features, charming smile and suave mannerism are his best weapons. 
  * He is really loud, just like Chanyeol, and when the two are together, they are like 10 year-olds stuck in adult bodies.



 

Images are taken from EXO-MCM Launch Photoshoot. Credits go to http://exochocolate.livejournal.com/864806.html.  


	2. Prologue

****   


A shadow stealthily flips over the fence and runs across the small patch of weed and grass. Under the dim moonlight, the shadow begins to scale the ladder up the water tower. A large backpack sways back and forth on his back as lanky limbs swiftly made their way up the ladder steps. From far away, it looks as if a large spider is attacking the lone, abandoned water tower. Finally reaching the cone shape top, the shadow flashes a shark-like grin. He pulls out a giant black package from his backpack and begins taping it to the tip of the tower. Once he made sure the package was secured, he pulls out a large bottle of gasoline and proceeds to empty it all over the rooftop. When the bottle was completely empty, the shadow looks around approvingly at the mess he has made. Gasoline covers the entire rooftop and the excess drips down the side of the old tower.

Satisfied with his work, the shadow descends from the tower. Once he reachs the ground again, he jogs to the patch of weed and grass he crossed earlier. It has been two weeks since it last rained and the greens are crisp and dry, ready for a good burn. At this thought the shadow grins again, bearing his shark-like smile in the darkness. Eagerly, he pulls out a tin of black tar and smears it in the shape of a flying phoenix, covering most of green patch. He can’t even remember how many times he has drawn the phoenix anymore. Was it 100 or 200 now? Not that it mattered to him.

Touching up the last bit, he starts to feel that same giddiness overwhelming his body again. His hands shake in anticipation as he reaches for the match box in his back pocket. His heartbeats pound loudly in his ears and his stomach twisted and churned; he’s so excited he feels like throwing up. With a flick of his wrist, the little matchstick lights on fire. Shaking with excitement, he drops the small flame on the tar and the phoenix on the grass begins to burn. Fire licks hungrily at the tar and flames dance higher and higher. 

A low grumble of laughter escapes from the man. His handsome face is distorted by his maniacal laugh and his eyes sparkle like molten glass in the furnace. He’s a crazy man, but a happy crazy man. Slowly, he steps away from his masterpiece and breaks into a sprint towards where he had come from. Continuing to run as fast as he could, he glances at his watch. 11:59:35, perfect timing. He reaches for his phone and dials the number he has been waiting all night to call.

“What do you want, Chanyeol hyung?” The voice on the other almost emotionless.

“I have a show for you, Kyungsoo. Look outside your window in five, four, three, two…”

Coming to an abrupt stop, Chanyeol turns around to face the old water tower in the distance. A remote detonator in one hand and cellphone in the other, pure happiness radiates from his face as he whispers into the phone in a melodramatic tone.

“One.” Click. The tip of the old water tower explodes with an earsplitting bang, covering up the monotonous beeping of Chanyeol’s watch that indicated the arrival of a new day.

“Happy birthday, my dear Kyungsoo. I hope you like my present.”

\---

Not too far away on a balcony, Baekhyun and Jongdae double over laughing, pointing at the speck of flame and smoke at the edge of the city. Their exaggerated movements made them spill beer all over themselves, as well as the innocent plants by their feet. Their high-pitched, obnoxious laughter echoing the shrill sirens down below. They knew Chanyeol was preparing a surprise for Kyungsoo, but this? It’s better than they had anticipated.

“Oh man, Xiumin hyung is going to kill him tomorrow!” Baekhyun giggles, wiping a stray tear from his eyes. Jongdae’s laughter also dies down to a giggle, but he is having a harder time catching his breath. They were just having a drink on Jongdae’s balcony when the small explosion in the distance caught their attention. There is only one person they knew who could customize an explosive to go off that loudly, and also crazy enough to set it off in Seoul. Of course, it can only be Park Chanyeol.

“Not if Kyungsoo kills him first,” says Jongdae, finally regaining his composure. A silly smile is still plastered on his face.  

“Speaking of Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun walks over to the separator between Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s balcony, and pounds incessantly on the thin sheet metal.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYUNGSOO-YAH!!” Baekhyun screams loudly, successfully cracking his voice. Jongdae breaks into another fit of obnoxious laughter and joins Baekhyun in disturbing the peace. “KYUNGSOO-YAH, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! KYUNGSOO-YAAHH!!”

\---

Next apartment over, Kyungsoo is stands by the window and staring at the smoking speck of orange in the distance. Still clutching the phone next to his ear, he listened to Chanyeol babble about how beautiful the fire is. He could also hear the two hyungs being idiots next door over, just like always. It has been another year and he was one year older. He turns away from the window and looks at Luhan lying in the bed. Another year.

Just then, Xiumin appears at the door, looking calm as always. He nods at Kyungsoo and said “Happy Birthday”. Kyungsoo nods back. There were never many words between the two of them; Luhan was always the chatty one.

Finally, Chanyeol quiets down on the other side of the phone. Both of them listened to the faint wailing of the siren before Kyungsoo speaks up softly.

“Thanks hyung.” He could already see Chanyeol’s shark-like grin. Kyungsoo hangs up without another word and turns his attention back to Xiumin.

“Luhan says happy birthday too,” Xiumin says in a low voice, shifting his gaze to Luhan. There is something in his gaze Kyungsoo could not grasp, almost like remorse. 

Kyungsoo blinks and nods. He glances at Luhan on the bed again. The idiots are still screeching and pounding next door. Both Xiumin and Kyungsoo ignore them.

“Also, new job tomorrow. I will let the other three know." Xiuemin says without taking his eyes off Luhan. "We are meeting at the shop at 9 a.m. sharp.” He walks into the dimly lit room and sits down on the chair placed next to the bed.  

“Okay,” Kyungsoo replies softly and walks out of the room, leaving Xiumin to be alone with Luhan. In the background, sirens continue to wail but the next door idiots have become silent.

Kyungsoo looks outside the window again inside his room, the sparks of orange will shining bright.

 

Another dirty job tomorrow.

 

_TBC_


	3. Arc I: Dirty Diamonds (Part I)

Xiumin sighs and pours himself another cup of coffee. Leaning back against the counter, he watches Chanyeol follow Kyungsoo around in his tiny coffee shop. The older of the two speaks animatedly in a loud and deep voice. In the midst of explaining something, the cloth in his left hand waves wildly in the air, almost hitting his much shorter companion several times. Kyungsoo sweeps the floor half-heartedly with his head ducked low, easily avoiding the other’s flailing limbs with practice. Occasionally, he looks up and meets Chanyeol’s eyes, showing that he is still paying attention; sometimes he replies in a soft voice, so soft Xiumin thinks only Chanyeol could hear because he has big elf-like ears.

Today’s topic of conversation seems to be about the mantis shrimp.

Xiumin sips at his coffee with a frown. Chanyeol has abandoned the cloth on the nearest table and started to shadow box, attempting to imitate how a mantis shrimp strikes a prey. “Apparently their punches have the same velocity as a gunshot,” Xiumin overhears Chanyeol say, and he watches as the taller man delivers quick and powerful punches at the air. His brows are creased in concentration and his lips pursed into a thin line. Kyungsoo have stopped sweeping, and he propped his chin on the end of the broomstick, wide eyes following Chanyeol’s every move. A faint smile hangs loosely on his heart-shaped lips.

The frown on Xiumin’s youthful face deepens as he gulps down the last of his coffee. He has been debating if he should reprimand Chanyeol for his act of arson last night. When he agreed to let Chanyeol join EXO, they have reached an agreement that the arsonist would stop trying to set everything around him on fire. It has been two years and Chanyeol is doing relatively well. He has only committed 20 cases of arson outside of EXO jobs in the past two years; that was equivalent to what he once did in one month. Normally, Xiumin would have gave Chanyeol a good ass-kicking for breaking their agreement (again), but the incident last night cannot be categorize as ‘normally’. Last night Chanyeol set the water tower on fire for Kyungsoo’s birthday, as a present. Xiumin thought Kyungsoo would have gotten angry at Chanyeol for his act of arson, which he usual did, but there has been no sign of the young boy getting angry at all; rather, he looks happier than usual. That puts Xiumin in a difficult situation. He does not want to put a damper on Kyungsoo’s mood.

It has been a while since Xiumin saw Kyungsoo this relaxed and happy. When Luhan fell into his coma three years ago, Kyungsoo lost his smile. He always looked tense and terrified, as if his world has crumbled and everyone was out to get him. It was the same look he had many years ago when Luhan and Xiumin first found him crouched in the corner of an alleyway. Xiumin remembers his first impression of Kyungsoo; he thought the boy was more like a wounded kitten than a normal 10 year-old. He glared at anyone trying to get close to him, refused to go outside of his room, and in general, he just did not know how to socialize. Eventually, Luhan gradually broke through the walls surrounding Kyungsoo’s heart and he spoiled the boy with love. Luhan, like Xiumin, was an orphan but he loved Kyungsoo like the younger brother he never had. In return, Kyungsoo devoted all the love for his missing parents into loving Luhan. The three of them lived together and for the first time in his life, Xiumin felt like he had a complete family. They were happy. But after Luhan’s accident, everything changed. No matter what Xiumin has tried, he could not replace the void Luhan left behind in the young boy. The older man watched helplessly as Kyungsoo rebuilt the wall around his heart.

Then Chanyeol barged into their lives, especially Kyungsoo’s life. He was enthralled by the wide-eye boy at first sight and since then, Chanyeol made a mission in his life to never leave Kyungsoo alone. The rowdy arsonist brought out both the best and worst in Kyungsoo. Sometimes his antics would get a hearty laugh out of the boy, but most of the time they roused fits of uncontrollable rage in the young boy. Either way, the appearance of Chanyeol was like a dry-season forest fire that steadily burnt down the walls Kyungsoo has rebuilt. Xiumin may not voice it but he is thankful to Chanyeol. Despite all the trouble Chanyeol has caused him over the past two years, Xiumin is glad he joined their little group because he has made Kyungsoo human again. He did what Xiumin could not; he brought the smile back.

The sound of smashing glass pulls Xiumin out of his thoughts and he looks up to find Chanyeol frozen in his punching position, both him and Kyungsoo staring at the scattered pieces of glass on the floor. ‘I take that back.’ Xiumin thinks to himself and heaves another sigh. ‘There goes another candle holder.’ Before he could scold Chanyeol, someone knocked on the shop’s front door. Kyungsoo shoves the broom into the lanky man’s arms, motioning for him to clean up, and goes to open the door.

Seconds later, Jongdae follows Kyungsoo into the coffee shop. Nodding a greeting at Chanyeol and completely ignoring the mess on the floor, Jongdae marches straight to Xiumin by the counter.

“I know we have a meeting and all, but isn’t it suspicious looking for us to sit in a closed coffee shop on a Wednesday morning?” Jongdae asks, placing his bag down on the counter.

“No, it’s fine. We are usually closed on Wednesday anyways,” Xiumin replies, “people will just assume we are having a staff meeting or something.” He looks down at his watch: 9 A.M. sharp.

“Where is Baekhyun? Wasn’t he with you last night?”

“Yah, then he went home, I think.” Jongdae moves behind the counter, “Actually, I have no idea where he went.” He flashes a smile that blatantly said ‘don’t know and don’t care’. He pulls a mug out from the cupboard mounted on the wall and pours himself a cup of coffee. Without asking, he also refills Xiumin’s cup. Jongdae is well aware of Xiumin’s coffee addiction and the drink’s calming effect on EXO’s leader. He can tell the leader is not in a good mood this morning, probably because of the new job or the burning water tower from last night, and he will need the coffee to get through the meeting. Jongdae smiles to himself remembering last night. Following Xiumin’s gaze, Jongdae sees Kyungsoo sitting on a table, feet dangling and pointing his finger at the specs of shattered glass, while Chanyeol scurries around the small shop with the broom in his hand, trying to gather all the missing pieces. It’s already a mess and Baekhyun hasn’t even arrived yet. Yep, Xiumin definitely needs the coffee, Jongdae concludes, or else he may end up strangling somebody halfway through, most likely either Chanyeol or Baekhyun.

Speak of the devil, Baekhyun waltzes in right then through the back door holding a square box with ribbon on top in his hand.

“Good morning, darlings!” Baekhyun’s horrible British accent booms across the small shop. He places the decorated box on the nearest table, and winks at everybody around the room with a charming smile. Chanyeol laughs, while Kyungsoo and Xiumin blinks emotionlessly at him, and Jongdae winks back at him. He then saunters towards Kyungsoo, carelessly crushing the loose pieces of glass Chanyeol has failed to sweep up. From his seat on the table, Kyungsoo instinctively glares at Baekhyun and stretches to grab Chanyeol, who was near, to stand in front of him. Last time he let Baekhyun near him, the smiley man tickled him. Nobody tickles Kyungsoo, and the boy made sure Baekhyun learned that first hand by punching him in the stomach; but Baekhyun never learns. Not minding being used as a human shield, Chanyeol flashed a shark-like grin at Baekhyun and gave his best friend a high five when the latter closed in.

“Oh come on Kyungsoo, I just want to say happy birthday.” Baekhyun whines, “Look, I’ve even brought you cake!” he gestures at the decorated box. At the mention of cake, Kyungsoo peeks out from behind Chanyeol. Contrary to his cold demeanour and violent tendencies, Kyungsoo had a major sweet tooth.

“It’s strawberry short cake, your favourite” Baekhyun says in a sing-song voice.

Kyungsoo narrows his eyes at Baekhyun, but cautiously slips off the table and edges towards the cake, reluctantly leaving the protection of his human shield. He keeps his eyes fixed on the smiling man as he walked; Baekhyun just smiles innocently at the boy, holding his hands up submissively. However, not looking at where he’s going, Kyungsoo soon bumps into a chair and breaks his gaze on Baekhyun. In a split second, Baekhyun closes the distance between himself and the stumbling boy, and envelopes the latter in a crushing hug. Kyungoo’s whole body tenses and his already wide eyes widen more in surprise. A small gasp escapes his mouth, making the man hugging him chuckle. Baekhyun hugs Kyungsoo even closer and shamelessly nuzzles his cheek into the boy’s soft black hair.

“Aigooo, our baby is another year older,” Baekyun coos, “and damn, what do you use for your hair, Soo, it smells s- URG!”

Kyungsoo kicked hard at Baekyun’s shin. Kyungsoo does not enjoy intimate touching, especially from Baekhyun. Chanyeol and Jongdae cackled loudly as Baekhyun sinks to the floor, quivering with pain. The birthday boy scoffs and looks down at the man withering in pain by his feet, moaning and groaning in a hushed voice. Xiumin rubs his forehead and feels a headache come on. Waving his hand, he motions the standing members to the table in front of the counter.

“Enough. Take a seat and let’s start the meeting.” He glances over at the man still muttering on the floor.

“Stop acting and get your ass over here. You were already late,” he says with no sympathy in his voice, “and stop picking the lock on my back door. Use the front door.”

Baekhyun looks up and realizes no one is paying him attention anymore. He sprawls out across the hardwood floor and whines loudly while shaking his limbs like a child not getting his ways. 

“You guys are so mean! No love for Baekhyun!”

Being the nicer one, Jongdae glances at him and rolls his eyes.

\---

Once everyone settled down with coffee and a slice of cake in front them, Xiumin was finally allowed to start the meeting.  He sat at the end of the table, with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo sitting next to each other on his right side, and Baekhyun and Jongdae on his left. Jongdae already has his laptop pulled out. Chanyeol shoves cake in his mouth and smudges cream all over his lips, causing Baekhyun and Jongdae to point and laugh at him. Kyungsoo ignores everybody and forks a small piece of cake into his mouth with a small satisfied smile, legs swinging underneath the table. Sometimes, Xiumin thinks he works with a group of toddlers, who happened to be really good at exploding things and setting things on fire, making others sick and uncomfortable, lying, stealing things, and invading your privacy. Xiumin clears his throat, hoping to catch their full attention but fails to, and begin to explain the job.

“Our new client is Kris Wu, the owner of Arctic Diamond. He’s a Canadian-Chinese diamond dealer and supplier. His background is a little complicated. He has some ties with a triad in Hongkong, and he also trades with Suho and the Kims.” All of the members’ heads perk up at the name and their full attention finally focused on Xiumin. Suho ran all the underground black markets in Seoul and his family, the Kim, operated the largest crime syndicate in Korea. He is someone EXO cannot afford to and does not want to offend.

“Why come to us?” Baekhyun asks in a flat tone, all traces of earlier silliness now gone. He looks down at his mug of coffee, lightly shaking his head and blowing on the liquid to cool it down.

“He wants us to find the man who took the diamonds he is going to trade with the Kims, and he wants them back before his meets Suho tomorrow evening.” Xiumin replies. “The man’s name is Lee Kwangsoo. He was one of Kris’ bodyguards in Korea and he has been missing for about 10 hours now.”

“Why doesn’t he just look for the guy himself? Or even better, why doesn’t he just ask Suho for help?” Chanyeol mumbles with a mouthful of cake, spraying loose crumbs all over the table. Kyunsoo shoots him a disgusted look and shields his piece of cake with his small hands. Across the table, Jongdae smirks at Kyungsoo’s action and answers Chanyeol before Xiumin speaks again.

“He can’t. Suho’s been eyeing Kris’ company for a while now, but being a family business, Kris has no intension of selling it. Suho is probably just waiting for a legitimate reason to wage war against Kris and forcefully take over the company. If Kris makes a wrong move and offends the Kims somehow by, oh I don’t know, maybe show up to the trade with no merchandise,” a Cheshire smile creeps up Jongdae’s face, “I’d say that’s a good enough reason for Suho. Isn’t that right, hyung.”

Xiumin watches silently at the smiling Jongdae, whose eyes focused on his shirt pocket instead of his face. Leave it up to the resident hacker of EXO to figure everything out. Jongdae, unlike the other three, may be a stranger to many dealing in their kind of business because he worked mostly from behind the screen and was the last to join EXO, but almost nobody is a stranger to him. He has a way with information; not only could he dig up dirt on almost anybody, he also has photographic memory. If the world is like an amusement park, then Jongdae has the all-access pass  _and_  the employee’s pass. Xiumin is definitely wary of Jongdae, who always walked around with a small, knowing smirk on his face and twinkles in his eyes. How much does the hacker know, about him and Luhan, and their plan?

“Can’t he just replace the diamonds? Time is kind of tight for finding someone who has been missing for 10 hours already.” Baekhyun says, still not looking up. Despite all of his silliness and jokes, Baekhyun is probably the most professional in EXO. Having grown up with parents who made their living being full time con artists and thieves, he was raised and trained to be the perfect criminal. Soft eyes, a gentle smile and impeccable manners, Baekhyun has charmed and conned a handful of females and males alike over the years. He may be flashy, but he knows how to use his beauty and exceptional conversation skills to stay out of jail. None of his victims would testify against him because they truly believed that Baekhyun has at one point in time really loved them, so they were happy to give what the charming man wanted. Jongdae jokingly called him “all-kill” before, but all of EXO have wordless agreed that Baekhyun is fitful of such title. He has the skills, in conning and thieving, and he is always level-headed and adaptable, no matter how bad things get. Baekhyun is the perfect criminal and Xiumin thinks it is lucky that EXO has him.

“No. It’s kind of hard trying to find thirty D colour, I.F grade, 6 carat diamonds in such short notice without attracting Suho’s attention” Xiumin answers and sips at his coffee. Baekhyun whistles as he meets Xiumin’s eyes. He looks around at his team members with sparking eyes and he wiggles his eyebrows playfully.

“That’s almost 3 million USD of diamonds.” Kyungsoo whispers while stabbing absentmindedly at his half-eaten cake. He looks to Xiumin and asks: “How much is he paying us to do this?”

“1 million USD.”  Xiumin replies.

“Pfft,” Chanyeol snorts obnoxiously and stares intensely at Xiumin’s shirt pocket, “What do you take us for, idiots? If we take the job, we will need to deal with Suho. No, make it 1.5 million or you can find someone else to do it.”

Xiumin reaches his phone from his shirt pocket and places it on the table in front. It was already connected and on speaker mode, but no one is surprised.

“You’ve heard them Kris, 1.5 million or no deal. What do you say?” Xiumin asks into the phone. 1.5 million USD is a lot more than what he would usually charge, but this is a tricky, dirty job. They will temporarily be opposing Suho, and that never is a wise choice. Despite being the youngest son from the Kim family, Suho’s ruthlessness and natural leadership skills earned him the top position in his family, as well as the fear of many in Seoul. But money is money, and unless Suho will turn around and pay them to not help Kris, Xiumin sees no reason to turn down the job. Sure, if Suho decides to come after EXO, they are all fucked; but that’s what their job entails. They are EXO and they will do anything as long as the appropriate price is paid, and 1.5 million USD is pretty appropriate. They will just need to work faster and work more in the shadows. This is not mission impossible.

After a long silence, Kris agrees, sounding slightly unhappy. Baekhyun flashes Kyungsoo a toothy grin, his mouth in the shape of a rectangle, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes with a faint smile.

“You better do this well.” Kris’ grumpy voice sounds over the speaker phone, “If you don’t get those diamonds back to me on time, not only will you walk away empty-handed, I will also drag you down with me.” The frown returns to Xiumin’s face. Kris continues: “Remember, the diamonds are the priority. You have my permission to recover them at all cost.”

“So what we do to the guy, you don’t care right?” Chanyeol asks in a raspy voice, leaning closer to the phone. Something flickers in his eyes and his mouth curls into a perverse smile.

Kyungsoo turns to look at Chanyeol with a similar smile on his face. Silence fills the room again. Then moments later, Kris’ voice returns, sounding even more annoyed: “Just make sure you get the diamonds back to me before 4:30 p.m. tomorrow. No payments until the job is done” He hangs up.

Xiumin tucks his phone away and looks at his team around the table. All of them look eager and ready for action. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo look particularly eager, the creepy smiles still on their faces. Xiumin has no interest in finding out what is going through their minds, but he does feel some pity for this Lee Kwangsoo man, knowing what the two are capable of.  

“If you need anything, just let me know. Don’t worry about Suho and just concentrate on finding Lee Kwangsoo. If you run into Suho’s man, don’t confront them and send me a text with their location. I will deal with them.” Xiumin says to his team. Then he turns to speak to each member, starting with Chanyeol. “Yeol, make sure you keep your phone charged. Don’t burn anything and make sure Kyungsoo doesn’t get hurt.” Chanyeol responds with a loud ‘Yes’sir’ and an exaggerated salute. The boy sitting next to him frowns and Xiumin cuts him off before he could speak.

“Chanyeol can fight, but you can’t, so stay away if fights break out.” He looks straight into the boy’s clear eyes, and Kyungsoo begrudgingly nods. Luhan would kill him if Kyungsoo ever gets hurt. “Also, I trust you can keep the other three in check. And don’t kill the man, bring him back. We can try to sell him to either Kris or Suho afterwards.”

Xiumin turns to Baekhyun, but the latter speaks first: “I know, I know, keep Kyungsoo safe and don’t fuck around with Chanyeol too much. Don’t worry so much, hyung. We will find the man, right Jongdae?”

Both Xiumin and Baekhyun turn to look at the hacker, who is already typing fervently at his laptop. Feeling eyes on him, Jongdae looks up and flashes his trade mark Cheshire smile. Xiumin smiles back.

“Jongdae you’re in charge. Again, call me if you need anything and if I get information from Luhan, I will let you know. Be safe.” All four members nod at their leader. Xiumin gets up and turns to leave through the back door. Before the door is shut, he heard Baekhyun and Chanyeol laugh boisterously at something Jongdae had said.

1.5 million USD and 31 hours in count down. Let the hunt begin.

_TBC_


	4. Arc I: Dirty Diamonds (Part II)

Kyungsoo is seriously contemplating his chances of survival if he jumps out of the BMW right now as it speeds down Seoul’s avenue. He shuts his eyes in annoyance and rips the ear bud out. Digging his fingers deep into his ears, Kyungsoo tries to block out the loud singing resonating in the car but to no avail. 

Next to him, Baekhyun is delivering his rendition of  _Let it Go_  at the top of his lung and completely in falsetto. Kyungsoo’s problem with Baekhyun is not that he is a horrible singer. In contrary, Baekhyun is an amazing singer when he tries; there is both tenderness and strength in his voice. However, most of the time the con artist chooses to sing in a fashion that will annoy Kyungsoo the most, like right now. Baekhyun is not only successfully butchering the song with his voice carelessly cracking here and there, he is also quickly wearing Kyungsoo’s patience thin; Jongdae, who decided to join in also in falsetto through the ear bud, makes things even worse. The boy snaps open his eyes and glares at the singing man. Baekhyun smirks while he listens to Jongdae trying to harmonize with him wirelessly. In the corner of his eyes, he catches Kyungsoo’s murderous glower, but decides to ignore it. It will be another 20 minutes before they reach Lee Kwangsoo’s home and his sing-along playlist is just beginning.

\---

( _1 hour ago_ )

After Xiumin left the shop, Jongdae took about twenty minutes to run a background check on Lee Kwangsoo and drafted a plan for their mission. He re-gathered his teammates and filled them in with the situation.

“Lee Kwangsoo, age 29. He’s originally from Namyangju and moved to Seoul as an aspiring boxer when he was 18. He practiced taekwondo since he was five and started boxing when he was 15. After moving to Seoul, he joined Ringaling Gym and began to practice MMA style fighting. The gym provided entry point for him to participate in underground MMA fights and slowly, he built up a reputation as “the deadly giraffe” in the lightweight division.”

“The deadly giraffe, are you serious?” Kyungsoo asked while looking extremely unimpressed at the picture of Kwangsoo Jongdae passed around. Chanyeol and Baekhyun roared with laughter at the boxer’s title; the former bent forward slapping the table while the latter leaned back into his chair, almost tipping over.

“Hey, I didn’t pick the name.”Jongdae replied defensively but with a huge grin on his face. “It’s probably because this guy is freakishly tall. He’s an even bigger giant than Chanyeol, standing at 190cm. Anyhow, eventually he started fighting in the official MMA fights about 6 years ago, but retired a year ago because he torn his rotator cuff badly.” Chanyeol shot him a confused look. “He torn the ligament in his shoulder,” Jongdae explained impatiently.  

“Since then, he worked as an assistant boxing coach at Ringaling Gym and as temporary bodyguards on the side. He only joined Kris’ security team as a last minute addition about a week ago. He wasn’t part of the personal bodyguard team, but was put in charge of making sure the parameters are without threat. It’s unclear how he got a hold of the diamonds, but from my speculations, since he worked to secure the parameter, he probably let a partner slip pass to infiltrate the room with the diamond safe and picked it open.”

“Well, he sure found himself an extremely competent partner. Kris’ safe is not easy to pick. That stingy bastard spends a lot of money trying to guard his diamonds…” Baekhyun grumbled with pursed lips. He leaned back and forth on his chair, carelessly balancing on the hind legs.

Jongdae arched an eyebrow at Baekhyun. “You make it sound like you know from firsthand experience.”

“Yep, it’s because I’ve tried to steal from Kris before.” Baekhyun winks at Jongdae. The hacker observed the smiley man still tilting back and forth on his chair. It’s difficult to tell if Bakehyun is lying or not; Jongdae may be good at reading most people like a book, but Baekhyun is not most people. He had read Baekhyun’s profile many times since they’ve met, but this man is still a mystery to him. Jongdae learnt that for all of his life, Baekhyun lived the lies his parents, and later himself, have created, to the point that some lies have become the truth. Jongdae sometimes even doubt if the information he gathered on the man were also lies created by Baekhyun. Although the two are close friends, there is an unspoken tension between them: Jongdae is always trying to discreetly uncover the con artist’s lies while Baekhyun is always wary of the hacker’s ability to discover truth. Different from Chanyeol, who only cared about and befriended the Baekhyun whom he sees at the present, Jongdae could not leave the past behind and did not want to. Perhaps it’s a pet peeve of hackers, but Jongdae cannot stand the idea that his friends would try to hide things from him, especially Baekhyun. He’s not sure why, but knowing the playful man is lying to him stabs at his heart.

Jongdae looked away from Baekhyun and decided to ignore latter’s comment. He cleared his throat and started to explain their plan of action.

“Anyways, there are three preliminary steps to looking for a missing man. First, you track his phone. I’ve already tried doing that and he’s at least smart enough to turn it off. Second, you go to his house. At this point, most likely he will not be at his place anymore but usually there’s clue left behind that may help us figure out where he went. Lastly, you go to the places he frequents. He may be staying at those places, or he might have hinted to someone close to him about where he went. Either way, since we don’t have much lead on him right now, let’s just start with these three avenues. Any question?”

“Who’s doing what?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Well, I was thinking Chanyeol can go visit the places he frequents, such as the Ringaling Gym to start,” the hacker turns to speak to the lanky man, “if you find any other places he usually frequents, go check them out too.” Chanyeol nodded and drummed his fingers playfully on the table.

“Baekhyun, you go check out his place and take Kyungsoo with you. I will send his address to you over text. ” Baekhyun’s face lit up while Kyungsoo looked as if he just drank bitter melon juice.

“Why am I going with Baekhyun hyung? Can’t I go with Chanyeol hyung instead?” the boy whined, annoyance in his voice.

“No, go with Baekhyun and bring your tranquilizer gun. If he’s home, knock him out and bring him back. If not, search for clues.” Jongdae replied. Then looking Kyungsoo up and down, his trade mark Cheshire smile emerged as he spoke up again: “You going with Chanyeol might ruin things, actually, since you’ll look really out of place at the gym considering how scrawny and pale you are.”

Chanyeol snickered at the hacker’s comment, but immediately shut up when Kyungsoo shot him a death glare. Although Kyungsoo hated to agree with Jongdae but the hacker was right. Since young, Kyungsoo barely went outside because of his parents and his sun allergy. As he got older, his symptoms improved but he still avoided being under the sun as much as he could. In combination with his forever lack of enthusiasm for physical activities, Kyungsoo did not have visibly developed muscles and his skins are milky white, almost translucent, making him look much meeker and younger than he actually is. Luhan and Xiumin constantly force fed him vitamin D pills because they think the boy looked a bit ghastly. Kyungsoo growled at his hyungs’ concerns, but he would always take the pills anyways.

“Don’t worry Kyungsoo, you’ll have more fun with me. I can also take you to Yixing hyung’s place later as well.” Baekhyun winked at Kyungsoo, trying to cheer the boy up. However upon hearing Yixing’s name, Kyungsoo’s glared quickly dissipated and was replaced by a worried look. Noticing the change in the boy, Chanyeol stroked Kyungsoo’s head gently, while Jongdae tried to smile in a reassuring manner. Baekhyun made an apologetic face after realizing he brought up an unwanted topic. Jongdae quickly spoke up again, changing the topic.

“Here, all of you guys take these so you keep in touch with me at all times.” The hacker reached into his bag and pulled out three sets of pin-sized mic and small knob of flesh-coloured, wireless ear bud. Aside from being the residence hacker, Jongdae also customized mics and ear buds, making them look as discreet as possible and multifunctional; the mics act as GPS trackers as well. Each member was also given a pinhole camera, disguised as different colours of stud earrings; Kyungsoo preferred black, Chanyeol red and Baekhyun gold. The team quickly equipped up.

“That’s all for now,” Jongdae said and passively watched as Kyungsoo helped Chanyeol pin his mic because the giant just couldn’t do it himself, “We will regroup in a couple of hours. Good luck!”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both flashed a bright smile and Kyungsoo nodded his head solemnly.

Time remaining: 30 hours.  

\---

Kyungsoo climbs out of the car and slams the door. He stuffs the ear bud back in while still glaring at the other man taking his time coming out the car. Bakehyun pushes his hand forward and arches his back, stretching like a cat just waking up from a nap.

“Is this the place, Jongdae hyung?” Kyungsoo asks as he eyes the old building in front. The five storey building looks weathered and the outer yellow walls are covered in a thick layer of grime. It’s crammed between several tall buildings and partially hidden by the many neon signs that protruded from the surrounding buildings. Despite the lightness of the building in comparison to its bare-bricked neighbours, the building looks especially inconspicuous. Jongdae confirms through the ear bud.

“It’s dingy looking.” Baekhyun wiggles his nose judgingly at the structure and turns to ruffle through his car trunk. “This is a dingy neighbourhood and we stand out too much. Let’s just get in and get out as fast as we can.”

‘It’s you who stands out too much.’ Kyungsoo thinks, but bites back his comment and makes his way to join Baekhyun by the trunk. This neighbourhood may not be as run-down as Baekhyun implies, but it also doesn’t see many BMV 7 series drive through its narrow streets or people who dress as polished as the con artist. While Kyungsoo, sporting a 2-block haircut and dressed in black Converse, skinny ripped jeans and a black Canadian Goose jacket, can pass as a good looking neighbourhood boy, Baekhyun stands out like a sore thumb. The con artist is coordinated in a tan Burberry cashmere top coat, dark washed fitted jeans and a pair of matching brown Chetwynd wingtip shoes. To top it off, his permed hair is styled fashionably, showing off his clear forehead, and a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses sits on top of his dandy nose. He looks impeccable, but also too memorable. Well aware of this fact, Baekhyun strips off his top coat and sports a plain gray down jacket instead, and switches his shoes to a pair of ordinary runners. From his truck, he also pulls out two sashes, both with the phrase ‘God, our Lord and Saviour’ printed across, and two black caps. Handing one of each to Kyungsoo and motioning the boy to wear it, Baekyun takes off his sunglasses and also wears the cap and sash. Then taking out a small donation box labeled with ‘Donation for Education’, he gives it to the boy to hold, while he clutches a clipboard underneath his arm; the Presbyterian Church of Korea letterhead is printed on the page secured to the clip board and a couple of people’s names, emails and signatures filled the first half of the page. Lastly, he takes a black backpack and helps Kyungsoo put it on.

“We are door-to-door canvassers from the Presbyterian Church of Korea and we are collecting donations to help children in poverty who cannot afford to attend school.” Bakehyun explains, while peeling name stickers for both himself and Kyungsoo, and proceeds to slap them on each of their coats. “Now your name is Park Jihoon and I am Lee Donghyeon. I will do all the talking at the door, so you just look pretty, smile and prepare to shoot him with the tranquilizer gun if he is home. Now let’s see that smile of yours.”

Kyungsoo flashes a sweet smile at Baekhyun and the older man smiles back. “Good. Okay, let’s go.” The older of the two slams the car trunk shut and they walk briskly inside the old building. Over the ear bud, Jongdae reminds them the room number, “Lee Kwangsoo lives in apartment 506.” Moments later, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo reach the fifth floor and the two scan their surrounding carefully. There’s a musty smell in the air, typical of an old building and clumps of dirty gathered at corners. Closest to the staircase is 501 and the room numbers descend down the dimly-lit hallway. The entire floor is quiet, only hushed movements could be faintly heard from above and below. Baekhyun walks up to the 501 and knocked firmly on the door. Kyungsoo follows behind, putting a bright smile on his face and holds the donation box up to his chest.

“Annyeonghaseyo, this is Lee Donghyeon from the Presbyterian Church of Korea. Do you have a moment to talk?" Baekhyun calls out in an upbeat tone, his voice sounding slightly higher than usual. "Annyeonghaseyo?" he calls out again and only silence greets him. Kyungsoo drops his smile in a flash. Baekhyun shrugs and moves on to 502. The younger boy follows closely and replaces the smile on his face.  
  
They repeat this sequence of actions all the way down the hallway. Kyungsoo doesn’t question Bakehyun's need to knock on every door because he knows how meticulous the older man is with his plans. This was not the first time he had participated in the con artist’s plan. Baekhyun always liked to have his story straight; knocking on only one door would be too be suspicious. Finally reaching 506, Baekhyung went through his greeting. Again, silence greets him, but this time he sticks his ear against the rusty metal door and listens carefully. Absolute silence. Bending down, Baekhyun comes face to face with the two locks above and below the door handle: a digital smart lock and an old-school key lock.  
  
Swiftly, the con artist grabs for the backpack on Kyungsoo's back. The boy quickly slips off the bag while cautiously looking down the dim hallway and at the staircase. Baekhyun withdraws a compact machine from the backpack and attaches it onto the digital lock. Once he made sure the machine is security latched on, he activates it with the small remote in his pocket. With a dull buzz, electricity surges through the digital lock and fries the system. There’s a monotonous screech as the digital lock shuts down. Kyungsoo winces and turns to look at Baekhyun, but the latter man pays no attention and waits patiently for the noise to stop. A few seconds later, the light of the digital lock fades and the machine loosens with a click. Baekhyun grins cunningly. He removes the machine and tosses it back into the backpack. Kyungsoo returns his attention to the staircase as the con artist picks at the keyhole with practiced fingers, and within seconds the lock clicks open. Standing up and slowly pushing open the door, Baekhyun stealthily enters the apartment with tentative steps. Kyungsoo follows close behind, after he roughly shoves the clipboard and donation box inside the backpack, holding his miniature tranquilizer gun in hand.  
  
The apartment is dark and it smells of the winter cold and cat litter. It's not a big space, only one room with a small kitchen. For a man living by himself, Lee Kwangsoo is relatively neat but the space still looks crowded because of its limited space. There are no dishes left unclean in the sink and the bed was made. The small table in the middle of the room is cleared of all clutter but traces of cat litter are scattered across the small apartment. Kyungsoo lowers his tranquilizer gun and closes the door lightly behind him, using his sleeve to avoid leaving behind finger prints. Leaving his shoes at the door, Baekhyun already made his way past the tiny kitchen at the door, and he scans the bed/living room with hawk like eyes. He notices the cat carrier is gone but the cat bed was left behind; the owner also closed the window, but forgot to lock them and the curtains were left wide open; lastly, the closet door was left open and a few empty hangers is among many with cloths hanging on them. Lee Kwangsoo left in a hurry. Kyungsoo pulls latex gloves from the backpack and hands Baekhyun a pair. The two snaps on the gloves and begin a throughout search of the cramped apartment.

The younger boy starts silently in the kitchen and inspects every cupboards and drawers for clues that would lead to Kwangsoo’s disappearance. Aside from the lack of cat food in the kitchen, everything else seems to be in place. In the other room, Baekhyun whistles the  _Love Song_  by Bumkey & Rhythmking as he gives a throughout search underneath the bed and inside the closet. Other than a few porn magazines with questionable preference and several shirts the con man had deemed hideous, there was nothing worthwhile. Catching each other’s eyes, both man and boy move promptly towards the large bookshelf that covered an entire wall. Starting from each side and moving towards the centre, they flip through all the books, albums and boxes. Minutes later, they place an IOU letter, a bloody dog-tag necklace that belonged to a man name Ha Dong-hoon, and a picture frame on the table. In the picture, Kwangsoo smiled heartily with his long arm draped around a shorter bespectacled man.

“Jongdae, I think we found something useful.” Baekhyun says quietly into his mic. Next to him, Kyungsoo zooms his ear stud camera to give the hacker a better view of their findings.

\---

Hopping off his motorcycle, Chanyeol locks his helmet to the bike handle in one smooth motion. Two girls walk by and giggle, both eyeing the handsome man dressed in black ripped jeans tucked in combat boots, a space print shirt and studded leather jacket. A fuzzy red scarf completely unfitting to his style is also wrapped around his neck; a recent birthday present from Kyungsoo. Chanyeol pays no attention to the girls and looks himself over in the side mirror. His strategy is to pretend to be Kwangsoo’s cousin from the country coming to the city looking for his hyung. Quickly, Chanyeol pulls his pant-legs out to cover the top of his boots and switches his leather jacket with a ragged down jacket from the side bag attached to his bike. He also places a pair of oversized frames over his eyes and parts his hair slightly. Checking himself out again in the mirror and feeling satisfied with his new look, Chanyeol walks towards the Ringaling Gym with a grin on his face. Jongdae has stopped singing  _Let it Go_  in complete falsetto over transmission. Usually the hacker is pretty serious when it comes to singing, but he also has his silly moments, usually when he sings with Baekhyun. Chanyeol can already imagine how annoyed Kyungsoo must have felt stuck in the same car as Baekhyun and he grins wider.

He has always found it entertaining to annoy the younger boy, mostly because when Kyungsoo  _does_  react, he looks really cute with wide eyes and a scrunched up face. Since Jongdae and Baekhyun joined EXO, the three of them often partnered up to test the limit to Kyungsoo’s patience, as well as the teen’s tolerance for stupidity. Kyungsoo labeled them as the ‘nitwit trio’. The last time Kyungsoo completely lost it was only two weeks ago when he found everything on his lab desk glued to the desk courtesy of Chanyeol and Baekhyun, right after he ran into Jongdae showing the two an video of a 12 year-old Kyungsoo singing the gwiyomi song in school, which Jongdae claimed to have ‘found it on the internet’. After an intense minute of screaming fit that would even put a well-traveled sailor to shame, Kyungsoo completely ignored the trio for an entire week. All three of the ‘nitwit trio’ tried to apologize in their own ways, either by offering his favourite food, chemicals he had been searching for on the black market, or blackmail materials on other EXO members. But each time, Kyungsoo would simply take the gift and walk away without a word. Finally when he decided to acknowledge the trio’s existences again, Kyungsoo did so by ambushing Chanyeol and beating the taller man to the ground with a plastic baseball bat, unexpectedly head-butting Jongdae as they pass each other in Xiumin’s coffee shop, and placing Baekhyun in a headlock while the con artist enjoyed a cup of coffee. Although it was painful, the three men all gladly accepted their punishment because they knew that was the way Kyungsoo showed he had forgiven them.

"Remember what Baekhyun taught you before," Jongdae chimes in through the earbud, interrupting Chanyeol’s thoughts, "be friendly but no too friendly, enough for them to want to talk to you but not enough for them to remember you. You have a problem with talking too much so make sure you watch yourself. Know when to shut up, it's a skill..."  
  
Chanyeol sniffs and half-listens as Jongdae continues to nag. 'He's sounding more and more like Xiumin hyung', Chanyeol thinks as he arrives at the Ringaling Gym entrance. Peeking in through the glass doors, he scans the room swiftly. It’s not a large gym, but it is tidy and professional looking. A guy in a black cap and white tank top meets eyes with Chanyeol and nods slightly, urging the tall man to enter.  
  
"You're not even listening anymore, are you?" Jongdae sighs. "Whatever, just don't talk too much okay?" Chanyeol hums and pulls open the door. He walks straight over to the man in tank top and puts on an apologetic smile.

“Hey sorry… um it’s uh… is there a man named Lee Kwangsoo here right now?” Chanyeol asks nervously, fidgeting with his sleeves. “Uh my name is Sunhee, I’m Kwangsoo’s younger cousin,” Chanyeol bows deeply and smiles shyly, trying to look as friendly and harmless as possible, “I’m looking for Kwangsoo hyung.”

The man in tank top eyes Chanyeol up and down with a poker face then bows back with just enough civility. “Kwangsoo’s not here… why are you looking for him?”

“Oh he’s not? Crap…” Chanyeol looks away as if in a panic, “Well, he texted me a couple of days ago asking me to come and find him… he said he’s in some kind of trouble and he wanted someone to talk to. But I couldn’t make it until now, oh where is my phone…” He quickly pats himself up and down, looking for the non-existent phone and text. The man in tank top watches silently as Chanyeol struggles. Then he sighs. “It’s alright,” he says, “I believe you. What did you say your name was again?”

“Sunhee, Lee Sunhee.” Chanyeol replies with another shy smile. The other man nods: “I’m Taeyang, the owner of this gym. I don’t know where Kwangsoo is… So he  _is_  in trouble?”

“I’m not too sure either,” Chanyeol stretches his eyes wide, imitating how Kyungsoo looks when the boy is astound by something, “his text sounded distressed. Taeyang-si, are you close with Kwangsoo hyung? Maybe he told you something?”

Taeyang scratched his arm with a little frown, as if contemplating if he should say anything. However after seeing the worried look on Chanyeol’s face, he spills the beans. “Well, he said he might be. I’m not too sure of the detail either, but recently he’s got a new part time job as some Hongkong mafia boss’ bodyguard or something. I told him not to do it, but he said it was good money. Then couple of days ago, he rushed into the gym in a frenzy saying something about one of his close hyung was killed and he will be too…” Taeyang hesitates a bit and looks over Chanyeol again. Deciding that Chanyeol looks harmless enough with puppy eyes that were increasingly getting teary, Taeyang continues. “So he asked for my help looking for someone who’s ‘nimble with their hands’, if you know what I mean,” Taeyang wiggles his eyebrows and Chanyeol frowns innocently, tilting his head to one side. Of course Chanyeol of all people knew what that meant; after all, his best friend is Byun Baekhyun and he had to feed himself somehow after his dad passed away. But Taeyang was fooled by the tall man’s act and explained further. “Basically, Kwangsoo looked for someone who’s good with a lock. From what I could make out of his rambling, he wanted to hack someone’s safe or something. Anyways, I said I can’t help with that because I don’t want him to get into more illegal stuff. I mean working for a mafia boss is bad enough. Since then, I haven’t heard from him at all. I supposed he found someone to help him. What an idiot. He probably hacked his new boss’ safe…I hope he’s still alive…”

Taeyang sighs and shakes his head. Chanyeol gulps nervously and asks again tentatively: “Did Kwangsoo-hyung say who was after him… maybe I can go and talk to the person? I need to help him somehow…”

“No, don’t.” Taeyang grabs Chanyeol’s wrist firmly and looks straight into the taller man’s eyes, “you don’t want to meet him, ever. That man has no heart.” Chanyeol stares back at Taeyoung pretending to be startled, ‘Is he talking about Suho?’ he thinks.

The gym is silent and Chanyeol quickly contemplates his exit move. However Taeyoung acts first and he tightens his hold on Chanyeol’ wrist. “Wait a minute… you’re not Suho’s man trying to find Kwangsoo, are you?” he growls, narrowing his eyes. Without a warning or waiting for a reply, Taeyang trips the taller man and pins him on the ground. Chanyeol lets out a haggard breath and flails his arms helplessly underneath the gym owner; he sure did not expect that.

“Now that I am looking closer at you, you guys don’t really look alike… your eyes are much too big” Taeyang whispered as Chanyeol continues to protest his hold. “Who are you??” Taeyang screams.

“Lee Sunhee, my name is Lee Sunhee! I’m Kwangsoo-hyung’s cousin from Namyangju, 24 this year and if you don’t believe me, you can check my ID!” Chanyeol screams back in a pretend-panic while still struggling against Taeyang’s firm hold over his body, “My eyes are big because I got double eye-lid surgery! But look at how tall I am! Everyone in my family is tall, like Kwangsoo hyung. Taeyang-si, why are you doing this??” Chanyeol bites hard on his bottom lip and forces himself to cry a little. After a few seconds of stare down, Taeyang finally loosens his hold and helps a teary eyed Chanyeol up from the floor. Apologetically, the gym owner helps the tall man dust dirt off his body.

“Sorry about that kiddo,” Taeyang says as he watches Chanyeol wipe tears away, “I was just making sure. Your cousin is really in danger right now, so I want to make sure he will be safe.” Chanyeol nods quietly and sniffs in grievance, making Taeyang feeling guiltier. “And uh, you know, good choice on the plastic surgery. You look much better than Kwangsoo.” Chanyeol snorts, a small smile finally returning to his face. “Thanks, Taeyang-si.”

The gym owner reciprocates the smile and reaches up to pat Chanyeol awkwardly on his head. “Just call me hyung. And here,” he passes a note book and pen, “write down your number and I will contact you when I hear anything from Kwangsoo, how’s that?” Chanyeol eagerly nods and scribbles down a random string of numbers. Then after making more inquires about where Kwangsoo could be and receiving a much warmer goodbye, Chanyeol walks out of the gym rubbing his sore bottom. He could have avoided being thrown on the ground, but that definitely would have blown his cover. As he made his way to his bike, Jongdae’s voice returned over the ear bud.

“Good job. You are going to check out the places Taeyang just mentioned?”

“Yah,”Chanyeol replies while changing back to his normal attires, “So Suho _is_  behind this whole thing. Did Kyungsoo and Baekhyun find anything?”

“As a matter of fact, they did, so I think we are close to the answer.” Jongdae mutters absentmindedly, “Anyway, go do your round and I’ll contact you where we are meeting later.”

“Sounds good,” Chanyeol says and hops back on to his motorcycle. When the engine starts, he winces feeling the bike vibrating against his tender buttocks. “Damn that stupid gym owner…” Chanyeol complains. Over the ear bud, Jongdae bursts out laughing and the arsonist swears he hears ‘you totally deserved that ass-kicking’.

\---

Xiumin opens his eyes and the familiar garden comes into view. He finds himself sitting in the same porch swing, next to the same person he sees every night, and facing the same rose coloured hydrangea trees. Listening to Luhan’s soft breathing and feeling his warmth as their hands entwine together, Xiumin marvels again at this world his best friend has created in the dream state. It always feels so real, yet he knows it is not. Sometimes Xiumin thinks he might as well just stay here with Luhan and they can live peacefully in this dream state until their life supports fail. But there’s Kyungsoo they need to think about; Kyungsoo still needs them.

“You sure this is a good idea, helping Kris?” Luhan’s soft voice breaks the peaceful silence. Xiumin turns his head and sees his friend frowning at him, worry visible in his ethereal features. “We will be facing Suho head on this time… Kyungso-“

“We’ve no choice,” Xiumin interrupts abruptly and squeezes Luhan’s hand for reassurance, “even if we don’t help Kris this time, Suho will find some other way to get us. Kyungsoo is now eighteen, the hunt has begun. At least if we help Kris, we will have a visible ally, a strong one too.” Xiumin reaches over to gently smooth the creases between Luhan’s fair brows. “It’s alright. Kyungsoo is always with the other three, so I am sure he will be fine. I trust them. And anyway, we need the money. Yixing said the machine is close to completion now.”

Luhan sighs and pushes Xiumin’s hand away. He turns his gaze towards the hydrangea trees. Luhan planted his dream garden with hydrangea because he first met Xiumin in a garden filled with these spherical flowers. They were eight. Innocent and carefree were those days, and neither anticipated how much turmoil and suffering life was going to put them through. Now twenty years later, only the flowers stay unchanged, still pure and lively. Xiumin is no longer the wide-eyed boy filled with bubbly laughter and Luhan has long ago lost the mischievous glint in his bright eyes. They both felt as if they’ve experienced a lifetime in the past decade; they are tired already but life goes on and so must they. Returning his gaze back to his friend, Luhan leans over and brushes his lips with the back of Xiumin’s hand. Softly and slowly, he speaks again.

“I’ve found Lee Kwangsoo’s dreams. They are all in chopped up pieces, probably because he doesn’t spend much time sleeping. In the dreams, I saw fleeting images of Busan harbour, a short man in glasses, an aged blue apartment building, some diamonds in a black pouch and I think I might have seen Kyuhyun as well…”

“Kyuhyun?” Xiumin is visibly surprised at the mention of the name, “How did he get mixed up with Kyuhyun?” He asks and Luhan shakes his head, indicating he has no further information to tell. Kyuhyun is the main drug lord under Suho, who also dabbles in usury. He was another man Xiumin wanted to avoid coming in contact with; he is a cunning man and his cruelty rivals Suho’s.

Xiumin sighs. “Okay, well I guess we will find out later.” He looks Luhan straight in the eyes and saw that there is still worry lingering. “Luhan, I promise you I will keep Kyungsoo safe. I’ve already called Onew to keep an eye out for him and the other three. They will step in and help if Suho’s man tries to harm them.” Onew is the currently leader of Xiumin and Luhan’s old gang and Xiumin have 100% trust in his old friend to help out in the time of crisis. Gathering Luhan into a loose hug, Xiumin says solemnly: “I won’t forget our promise with  _them_. I will protect Kyungsoo, for both of us.”

Luhan nods into Xiumin’s arms and mutters a quick apology. Xiumin wasn’t sure if his friend apologized for worrying so much or for not being able to help out more, but either way he could care less. Right now, he just wants Luhan to have a peace of mind, and thus allowing himself to feel more at ease as well. The two stay wordlessly in each other’s arms for a little longer until the dream world starts to shake. Luhan slowly breaks away from the hug and looks Xiumin in the eyes.

“Go back. Your phone is ringing.”

Xiumin nods and quickly pecks Luhan goodbye. Leaning back into the porch swing and still feeling the warmth of his friend next to him, Xiumin closes his eyes. When his eyes are open again, the warmth was gone and he’s left alone, lying on the familiar leather lounge with his phone buzzing next to him. Blinking a few times, he reaches for the phone and tenses upon seeing the numbers.

“Why are you calling me?” He asks coldly.

“Hello to you too, Mr. Grumpy.” The voice on the other end sounds amused, “I didn’t know I’m not allowed to call you, especially since you are meddling in my business,  _again_.”

Xiumin narrows his eyes unconsciously. “It’s a job, that’s what I do. You can always pay more for me to not help him.”

“Always so desperate for money… is that little boyfriend of yours really worth it?” Suho taunts, “You know, if you are so desperate for money, just hand the boy over and I will pay you as much as you want. I will even wake your boyfriend up.”

“We are in this fucked up situation  _because_  of you, so don’t try and act like a saint.” Xiumin snaps at his phone, “And you will never get what you want, not over my dead body.”

“Then maybe I should just kill you,” Suho hisses in return, “And I  _will_  have the boy. Maybe I have him now.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Suho asks, slyness coating his voice. A million awful scenarios flash through Xiumin’s head and the leader tries to keep his calm. “Good luck trying to find Lee Kwangsoo.” With those last words, Suho hangs up. Left with his own agitation and frustration, Xiumin rapidly dials Kyungsoo’s number. As the phone rings, he impatiently taps his feet.

“Hello? Xiumin hyung?” Kyungsoo’s voice sound over the phone and Xiumin lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. “Hello? Hyung is everything okay?”

“Kyungsoo-yah, where are you?”

“I’m at Yixing hyung’s right now… Baekhyun hyung is with me. Do, do you want to talk to him?”

“Yes, put him on the phone.” Xiumin sighs. Kyungsoo could even tell he’s not himself right now; he’s losing his cool too much. When he heard Baekhyun’s bright greeting, he speaks in a firmer voice.

“Baekhyun, Suho just called me. Make sure Kyungsoo doesn’t leave your sight, you hear me?”

“Of course, hyung.” Replies Baekhyun, the playfulness in his voice completely disappeared.

“Thanks.”  Xiumin says and hangs up. Pausing for a moment, he dials Jongdae’s number to inform him of Luhan’s information. As he waits for Jongdae to pick up, he thinks he will give Kris a call later as well. His gut feeling tells him something is wrong.

\---

Kyungsoo watches quietly as Baekhyun’s face changed from serious to silly in a flash as he hands the phone back to him. Before he could make an inquiry about the call, Yixing steps back into the room with a little container in his hand. Noting a change in atmosphere, Yixing asks Kyungsoo if everything is alright.

“Um… I think so.” The boy replies hesitantly, “Xiumin hyung just called and he sounded stressed, asking where I am.”

Yixing nods and turns to look at Baekhyun. The con artists just smiles and sits there looking pretty. Turning back to Kyungsoo, Yixing questions him: “Do you know why Xiumin is so protective of you?”

“No, why?” Kyungsoo stares intensively at the doctor, missing Baekhyun’s tiny flinch. Yixing stares back, as if searching for something in the boy’s eyes, and finally looks away. Shoving the small container and a brown paper bag in Kyungsoo’s face, he gives out a doctor’s order

“Go pee in this. I need a sample of your urine.”

Knowing he will not get an answer, Kyungsoo dejectedly walks off with container and paper bag in hand. Once he is out of the room, Yixing faces Baekhyun again.

“You know, don’t you?”

“I know what?”

“What you need to now of course.”

“Of course.” Baekhyun replies, still with that pretty smile plastered on his face.

He knows the gist of Kyungsoo’s situation and why Xiumin insist on the boy always being with someone; however he definitely does not want to discuss this topic with Yixing. Although the doctor looks calm and friendly on the outside, Baekhyun could also see something unnatural and maniacal buried deep within those half-lid eyes. He could understand why Kyungsoo feels uncomfortable with this doctor. Baekhyun has seen many kinds of people in his life and no one has made him feel more uncomfortable than Yixing. Death and madness seems to silently seep out of this guy’s every pore, and the thought of Yixing touching him is enough to make the con artist’s skin crawl. To think that Kyungsoo is obligated to visit him every two months; Baekhyun considers maybe he should speak to Xiumin on Kyungsoo’s behalf just to relieve some stress off of the boy. But he knows Xiumin will never agree; in reality, no one but Yixing will be able to control Kyungsoo’s condition.

Kyungsoo returns with a pout on his face. Placing the brown paper bag on Yixing’s desk, the boy sits down next to Baekhyun. Watching Yixing scanning through his files again, Kyungsoo asks in a quiet voice: “Why do I have to do this every two month?”

“It’s for your own good.” Yixing replies without looking up.

“Don’t lie to me!” Kyungsoo bursts out angrily. Next to him, Baekhyun sympathetically regards the angry boy without a word.

Tearing his eyes away from the files, Yixing kneels down and fixes his eyes Kyungsoo. Grabbing hold of quivering shoulders, the doctor explains slowly, as if talking to a child.

“I am not lying to you. This is for your own good. You’ve been ingesting all kinds of poisonous herbs and chemicals at a low dosage since you were an infant, so your body reacts to poison and normal food very differently. Aside from your parents, nobody knows what exactly is in your body. Since your parents are not around anymore, I have to run test on you every two month to make sure you’re okay. Do you understand now?” Giving a pat on the boy’s shoulder, Yixing gets up and turns back to the files. Kyungsoo’s anger dissipates and he slumps into the chair. Just when Baekhyun is about to reach over and comfort his little friend, his phone rings.

“Hello? What?? …. There? Okay okay, we will be there as soon as possible.” Hanging up, Baekhyun turns to Yixing: “Are we done here?” The doctor nods and hands Kyungsoo a box of medicines the boy could not be more familiar with.

“Don’t skip out on any of the pills,” He reminds Kyungsoo sternly, “I will know.”

Feeling defeated Kyungsoo nods. After saying their goodbyes, the two EXO members hop back into Baekhyun’ BMW.

“Where are we going?” Kyungsoo questions softly as he looks outside the window watching cars go by. He’s thankful Baekhyun didn’t put on his sing-along playlist again; he really would have jumped out of the car.

“We’re going the Viva Polo.” Baekhyun replies.

“Why now? I thought it's a surprise dinner, not a surprise late lunch.”

“What, you knew already?!” Baekhyun shouts while looking over at Kyungsoo with shock written all of his face. Kyungsoo merely shoots him a smug ‘I know everything’ look. Baekhyun mentally curses Chanyeol and his big mouth..

“Well, fuck.” The con artist refocuses on the road and explains the earlier phone call. “Jongdae called and said he thinks he’s 90% sure where Lee Kwangsoo is. So after we eat, we will need to get ourselves to Busan as soon as possible. Suho that son of a bitch moved the meeting to tomorrow morning at 8. We are running out of time.”

“… Shit.” Kyungsoo curses quietly and returns his attention to the zipping cars outside the window.

Time remaining:  ~~26 hours~~  17.5 hours left

_TBC_


	5. Arc I: Dirty Diamonds (Part III)

Time remaining: 17 hours.  
  


"Once again, happy birthday Kyungsoo! May you have the time of your life in the upcoming year as an 18 years old. Cheers!"  
  
Glasses collide into each other as the EXO members cheered following their leader's speech. Kyungsoo smiles shyly and sips on his juice while the rest chugged heartily at their mugs of cold beer. He may not be great at expressing gratitude, but Kyungsoo is very thankful for his fellow team members. They always look out for him, although a bit too much for his likings, and for better or worse they have become his new family. Whenever he is plagued with nightmares and jolts away in the dead of the night, the thoughts of having the EXO members in his life comfort him more than he'd like to admit. He wants to show more emotions to his hyungs and let them in closer to his heart, but Kyungsoo is scared. He is terrified that one day the EXO members will leave him as well; he has yet to heal from the scars of his parents' death and Luhan's accident, his young heart is not prepared to risk of losing loved ones again. Especially Chanyeol; Kyungsoo recently finds himself separating the man from the rest of the group. Chanyeol makes him feel so at ease, he often unconsciously lowered his guard around the silly giant. At the same time he is frightened to let Chanyeol into his world, part of him also craves more of the man's attention and affection in a way he has never experienced before. Shifting attention to his left, Kyungsoo peeks at the said person who laughed without reserve at something Baekhyun has just said. Kyungsoo thinks he can best relate to the arsonist; after all, both of them have lost their parents at a relative young age. Chanyeol's father died in a self-induced explosive accident when he was 15 and as for his mother, the arsonist always said "she is as good as dead to me". Genuinely, Kyungsoo admires Chanyeol's optimism and rigour for life, how he can still laugh and cry, experience every day to the fullest and fight until the end. Unknowing to himself, Kyungsoo watches as his taller companion explodes in a fit of laughter across from the con artist with soft eyes and a small smile creeps up his normally blank face.

Across the table, Jongdae takes everything in. He watches Kyungsoo’s smile expressionlessly and chugs half of his beer in one gulp. He has been closely observing the interaction between the boy and Chanyeoal lately out of pure fascination. If he’s not mistaken, he’d say Kyungsoo is falling in love, but then again what does he know about love? When he shared his recent observation with Baekhyun a few days ago, the con artist regarded him with mischievous eyes: “Are you saying that because you know what being in love looks or feels like?” Jongdae was stumped. Baekhyun was right, how does he know if what he sees in Kyungsoo’s eyes is love? He hasn’t experience his own first love yet, so who was he to make the judgement call?

“Well, do  _you_  know what being in love looks or feels like?” Jongdae retorted defensively, challenging Baekhyun of his own question. The con artist glanced at him lightly and a sly smile hung loosely on his rosy lips. Leaning in until Jongdae could feel warm minty breath against his lips, Baekhyun spoke soft and slow.

“My profession forbids falling in love, so I will never know personally how it feels. However,” the con artist tipped the Jongdae’s reddening face with a dainty finger and gazed deeply into the hacker’s nervous eyes, “I can tell when someone  _is_  in love. Rather than worrying about Kyungsoo, maybe you should worry about yourself, hm? Kim. Jong. Dae.”

Baekhyun smirked.

In a panic, Jongdae slapped the other’s hand away harshly and he practically ran out of the room, almost tripping over his two feet. “Go recite your dumbass non-sense to someone else, you fucker!” he shouted, feeling heat running through his entire body. Behind him, Baekhyun roared with laughter.

Looking away from Kyungsoo, who listened dubiously at Chanyeol’s story about someone selling Michael Jackson’s teeth on the black market, Jongdae glares at the person sitting next to him. Baekhyun turns to face the squinting hacker having noticed eyes trying to burn holes through his head. He arches his eyebrow in question and Jongdae whispers: “I do know what a person in love looks like.” 

“Oh, so you’ve looked in a mirror,” Baekhyun jokes, “I know I’m irresistible,” and he winks. Jongdae’s face quickly turns from white to red but before he could deliver a smart-ass reply, Xiumin calls for everyone’s attention.

“Okay let’s talk business. We are running out of time.” Xiumin starts in a serious tone, oblivious to the huffing hacker to his right, “Jongdae, give us an update and fill us in on the next step.”

Out of spite, the man in question grabs the half-full beer mug from Baekhyun’s hand and chugs it clean in one swift motion. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo watch the man in mild surprise; Jongdae usually is not the one to be rude unless he is provoked or angry. They turn their heads to the con artist, who merely watches in amusement as Jongdae wipes the corner of his mouth clean with a satisfied sigh. Baekhyun shrugs when Xiumin stares him down for an answer. Letting out a loud burp and ignoring Kyungsoo’s complaint about his lack of manner, Jongdae begins his update.

“Okay, this is what I think went down. First, as we’ve discovered, Lee Kwangsoo has a hyung he is really closed to name Ha Dongwoon. I did a background check on this man and he was a big time gambler. He signed a lot of debt contract with Kyuhyun but he had little abilities to pay back the debts. Before he disappeared, he called Lee Kwangsoo for help and at that time Lee Kwangsoo had just gotten his job with Kris. I’m pretty sure this Ha Dongwoon is already dealt with by Kyuhyun and poor Lee Kwangsoo got stuck with the left over debts.”

“You think Suho set him up to steal the diamonds?” Xiumin asks seriously as he watches Jongdae take a sip of water.

“Definitely. If I am Suho, I would not miss this perfect opportunity either,” Jongdae smirks into the glass, looking straight back at Xiumin, eyes shining with slyness, “the plan is like killing two birds with one stone: recovering capital while acquiring new capital, all through one stranger who just happened to have the worst luck ever.”

“So now what, where do we go?” Chanyeol says as he chewed on a piece of meat and Kyungsoo cringes at the giant’s poor table manner.

“Busan.” Jongdae replies while remembering what Xiumin had told him already of Luhan’s visions, “I’ve already got the address. I’m 90% sure Lee Kwangsoo is hiding in Ha Dongwoon’s old apartment in Busan.”

“What if Suho already knows that we know and get to Lee Kwangsoo before we do?” Kyungsoo asks biting into this lower lip, worries in his eyes. Turning his attention to the birthday boy, Jongdae smiles smugly.

“He won’t, Soo, because he is an asshole and likes to play games,” the hacker says and looks meaningfully at Xiumin, who avoids his gaze, “If he really wants the diamonds to disappear completely, he could have killed Lee Kwangsoo right after he got the diamonds from Kris rather than wait for Kris to find us. So let’s play with him then.”

Baekhyun smirks at Jongdae’s words and looks at his watch. However before he could question Xiumin how they should be getting to Busan, the leader’s cellphone interrupts. Reading the screen that flashed  _Onew_ , Xiumin frowns and a bad feeling creeps up his back as he answers the call.

“Xiumin hyung, Suho’s men are on their way and you have two minutes. They have guns, so be careful.” With a click, Onew’s voice is cut off and in a swift move, Xiumin stands up, catching the rest of his team member’s attention and alarming them.

“You are all leaving now,” he commends sharply and ignores Chanyeol’s complaint about not finishing his food, “All of you, get to Baekhyun’s car and drive to Busan. You should have enough time.” As everyone quickly shuffles out of the room, Xiumin grabs Chanyeol by the arm right before the arsonist follows the rest of his teammate.

“Kyungsoo, I’ll leave him to you.” Xiumin says softly and Chanyeol nods gravely, giving one last pat on the leader’s arm before rushing out of the door towards Baekhyun’s car. Once all four members are in the car, Kyungsoo finally asks meekly and the frown returns to his young face; can’t he even have a birthday in peace?  

“What’s happening? Why do we have to leave like this?”

“I think Suho’s men are here. We need to go now,” Baekhyun replies absentmindedly as he starts up his BMW and begins to reverse out of the alley way calmly. However before he could reach the end, gun shots sounded in the vicinity and a man in suit appears at the other end of the alley way. Cursing out loud, Baekhyun steps on the acceleration and the vehicle jerks at the sudden increase in speed; meanwhile, Jongdae babbles in a panic at the armed men now running towards their car. With a maniacal smile on his face, Chanyeol tosses a couple of black pellets out from the window at the charging men and cackles animatedly as the pellets explode like fire crackers all around, scaring Suho’s men and making them jump around like dancing monkeys. In a last attempt to stop the BMW from exiting the alley, the pursuer fires their gun at the tires but the bullets scrapes the side of the car instead as Baekhyun swerved sharply out of the narrow alley.

“You son of a bitch! I just got this car and I still have so many payments left! How dare you fucking damage it!!” Baekhyun switches from reverse nimble fingers and screams angrily at the pursuers, who are chasing relentlessly and firing aimlessly at the direction of the BMW. “Son of a-,” one more bullet scrapes the car, chipping off some paint job, “CHANYEOL EXPLODE THEM ALL INTO PIECES!” Baekhyun hollers at the top of his lung as he steps on the acceleration again, slamming all the passengers into their seats.

“Woah!,” Chanyeol  exclaims while steadying himself in the back seat with Kyungsoo, “I’ve only got those firecrackers though,” he lies and stifles his laughter, extremely entertained by the angry Baekhyun. Just then, another bullet makes contact with the back of the car and the con artist shouts out a long string of loud curses, rivalling Kyungsoo’s ability to make sailor’s blush. Next to him in the passenger seat, Jongdae laughs obnoxiously, completely forgetting how terrified he was just minutes ago. 

“Karma for paying in instalments and being a cheap ass,” Kyungsoo says suddenly from behind Baekhyun, causing Chanyeol and Jongdae to burst into more uninhibited laughter at their friend’s misfortune much to Baekhyun’s annoyance.

“Shut up, all of you!! Or else I am going to drive this car into the ocean and feed you all to the sharks!” Baekhyun screams out of embarrassment and threateningly, he accelerates the BMW even more as the car drives recklessly through the city towards the highway.

“No you won’t,” Kyungsoo smirks evilly, “remember your instalments?”

Baekhyun tightens his grip on the steering wheel and through the rear-view mirror, he glowers at the smug young men sitting right behind him, who high-fived the arsonist dying of laughter. Without another word, Baekhyun puts on his sing-along playlist and begins childish revenge. Minutes later, Jongdae and Baekhyun’s off-tune singing mixed with Chanyeol’s random ad-libs replaced the teasing laughter in the vehicle and Kyungsoo’s face darkened. For the second time that day, the birthday boy seriously contemplates his chances for survival if he jumps out of the BMW as it speeds down the highway.

Time remaining: 16.5 hours.

\---

Jongdae glances at the two huddling figures in the back seat; Kyungsoo has fallen asleep with his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder and the arsonist is also snoring away with his head leaning lightly against the shorter boy’s soft hair. The hacker chuckles under his breath as he is reminded of a cat and dog napping together. Next to him, Baekhyun steals a glance at the sleeping duo through the back view mirror too and a faint smile tugs on his lips before he focuses on the road ahead again. Rain is pouring heavily outside, darkening the sky and blurring visibility. They have been on the road for almost four hours already and staring at the large pellets of raindrop crashing into the windshield, Jongdae frowns as he checks his watch once again. They don’t have much time left, especially if he is wrong about Lee Kwangsoo’s hiding place.

Half an hour into their drive, the hacker received a call from Xiumin. Other than stating that he was safe, the leader also informed Jongdae he had received another call from Suho. Judging from Xiumin’s suppressed tone, he could guess just how aggravating the phone with Suho must have been for the EXO leader. Just as Jongdae had anticipated, Suho already knew Lee Kwangsoo’s whereabouts, and his taunting call put some doubts in both Xiumin and Jongdae’s heart. In a teasing voice, Suho told Xiumin: “The most dangerous place often is the best hiding place. Is Busan more dangerous or Seoul, hm?” Jongdae bit his lips when Xiumin coldly relayed Suho’s message; that is why he is only 90% confident.

“Stop thinking so much,” Baekhyun says suddenly, breaking the silence as if having read Jongdae’s thoughts, “even if you’re wrong, we still have time to get back to Seoul and find him.”

“What if we can’t?” The hacker asks quietly, staring intensely at the wipers as they push raindrops left and right.

“Since when could you not find someone? I trust in your ability to creepily locate people.” Baekhyun replies jokingly but also sincerely, pleasantly surprising Jongdae, “Worst case scenario, we let Chanyeol loose and he can burn down the meeting place and hope Suho dies in the fire but Kris survives somehow.”

Both men chuckle at the con artist’s horrible joke and the said arsonist stirs in his sleep, nuzzling his cheek against Kyungsoo’s soft hair. The rain continues to fall and after a short moment, Jongdae speaks up.

“How much of Kyungsoo’s situation do you know?”

“Not much,” Baekhyun shrugs and carefully changes lane.

“Aren’t you curious about it?” Jongdae pushes further and turns to regard the other’s side profile. He gulps a little at Baekhyun’s side profile; he cannot deny he has always found the con artist to be more beautiful than handsome, “We all know Suho is after him, but Xiumin-hyung never really told us why. Also why would Xiumin-hyung and Luhan hyung put their lives at risk just to protect Kyungsoo? Chanyeol, I can understand. He’s obsessed with Kyungsoo… I guess that’s a form of love.”

Baekhyun laughs at the hacker’s last comment, “Are we back to the love thing again? I don’t know if Chanyeol loves Kyungsoo, but he definitely has an obsession issue.” The con artist says quietly, as if afraid his voice would awake the man in discussion snoring away in the back. If like and dislike is a gradient for most people, Chanyeol has no concept of what a gradient is; when he comes to like something or someone, he becomes extremely attached to it. Perhaps it is because he has lost too much before, he could not help but hold on tighter to the people and things he treasures. ‘Completely different from the other person…” Baekhyun thinks as he takes another glance through the rear-view mirror.

“Either way, as long as they are happy, I could care less if it’s love or obsession.” Baekhyun continues in a louder voice, “As for Kyungsoo’s situation, I’m not you; I don’t need to know everything.” Although sometimes late at night when he is bored out of his mind, the con artist has entertained himself with all the mystery around the youngest member of EXO, in the end he waved the thoughts away. ‘Keep to yourself and only know what you need to know,’ his mother’s stern voice ringing in his head, ‘that’s how we survive.’

Noticing Baekhyun’s lack of interest in the topic of conversation, Jongdae turns his attention back to the raindrops sliding down the windows with a pout. The rain is letting up and a rainbow floats in the far distance, thriving on the last ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds.

“You are a selfish person, Byun Baekhyun.”

“Just because I don’t want to gossip with you?” the con artist scoffs as if offended. The highway toll booth comes into view and the huge Hangeul characters that spelled Busan slowly become clearer in the rain. A brief silence settled inside the car before Jongdae speaks again, his tone flat.

“You know, to know about someone shows that you care. But even though you call us your friends, you don’t care to know anything about us. You always keep to yourself.”

The car slowly comes to a stop at the automatic paying machine. Wordlessly, Baekhyun pays the toll then turns to face the hacker who is watching his every move. Flashing his most charming smile at Jongdae, much to the latter’s annoyance, Baekhyun says proudly.  

“Yep, because that’s how I stay alive. You know the saying right, curiosity killed the cat, Mr. Kim Jongdae.”

Jongdae narrows his eyes at the other’s blinding smile and holds himself back from delivering a punch. Baekhyun really knows how to get on his nerves.

\---

By the time the four members of EXO reach the aged blue apartment building Luhan described, the dim streetlights are already illuminating the narrow, empty street. The rain picked up again and lamely, four grown man stand in front of the dark entrance of the building covered in convenient store raincoats.

“Should I bomb the door open?” Chanyeol asks looking at the rusty combination lock. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at the giant’s suggestion while massaging his sore neck.

“Yeah okay, do that. Let everyone know we are here and maybe they can also throw us a welcome party.” The youngest retorts sarcastically, earning him a laugh from the Baekhyun, who has already moved in to pick the lock open. Within seconds, the rusty metal door swings open with a cringing creak, and the four drenched men slips into the unlit staircase discreetly.

“Soo, you should hang out less with Jongdae,” Chanyeol frowns cutely and whispers as they sneakily climb the stairs in the shadows with the hacker leading the way, “You’re speaking more and more like an asshole.”

“At least he’s not losing brain cells when he hangs out with me,” Jongdae glares briefly at Chanyeol then turns to confirm the apartment number. 302 written with black paint on a green door; just like in Kwangsoo’s dream. “This is it. Kyungsoo, you’ve got the stun gun?”

The youngest nods and holds the weapon firmly in front of his chest with both hands. Leaning against the crusty walls on either side of the wooden door painted an ugly shade of mossy green, Jongdae and Chanyeol unconsciously held their breath as Baekhyun picks at the simple lock with practiced hands. Seconds later with a modest click, the con artist nods at Kyungsoo and slowly pushes again the door. The smell of ramen is in the air and the entire apartment is in darkness. Cautiously, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo steps in while the other two peeks inside from beside the door. Jongdae’s stomach begins to knot when he sees an empty apartment.

Suddenly, footsteps running up the stairs catch all of their attention and in an instance, a tall figure with messy, curly hair appears in their view. Although neither of them could see the stranger’s face clearly in the dark, they could tell he is wearing a shocked expression and his body has flinched visibly upon the chanced encounter. Being the first to react, Chanyeol grabs the stunned figure in a head lock and covers the other’s mouth with his large hand. This brought the curly hair man out of shock and nosily, he begins to struggle against Chanyeol’s hold. However his struggle is short lived; Kyungsoo quickly subdues him with the stun-gun, rendering him unconscious in an instant. Pulling out a small flashlight from his pocket, Jongdae shines it on the fainted man’s face. 

“Yep, that’s him. Let’s get him inside.” With that said, he and Chanyeol drag the body inside by the arms and legs and the uncertainty in his heart vanishes like smoke in the wind.

Time remaining: 10.5 hours.

Turning on all the lights and pulling close the curtains, the four EXO members shed their raincoats by the door and begin their meticulous search all over the apartment. The bachelor pad is not large, but it has all the essentials: a full bathroom, an open concept kitchen, and a cramped corner for dining. Random piece of clothing are scattered across the floor and many surfaces are dusted in a layer of dirt and grime. Snapping on gloves, each member shuffles around the room and uncovers every little crevice and corner. Half an hour later exhausted and frustrated, Chanyeol and Jongdae slump onto the couch while Baekhyun sits on of the edge of the unmade bed when their search only revealed fifteen of the thirty diamonds. Standing in the middle of the bachelor apartment, Kyungsoo stares blankly at the unconscious Lee Kwangsoo on the ground, whose hands are tied and mouth gaged.

“Well we’ve got fifteen and we are still missing fifteen. These are 6 carat diamonds we are talking about,” Chanyeol laments from the couch, feeling annoyed at their minimal progress, “each of them is bigger than my thumb nail. We’ve searched everywhere already, but just fifteen. Where the hell are the rest?”

“Could he have hid elsewhere outside the apartment?” Baekhyun ponders but then quickly rejects his own idea, “No, that’d definitely be too risky. Damn it… you’d think he ate the rest or something.”

Jongdae laughs light-heartedly at Baekhyun’s suggestion, “I don’t think anyone would be dumb enough to do that. I don’t think he has the guts to hide the rest elsewhere either. Maybe the walls and floors are layered?” At his words, Chanyeol rises and starts to knock lightly on all the walls, confirming they are indeed solid concrete walls. Jongdae watches as his friend walks around the small apartment like a woodpecker then as he looks to inspect the tile floor, he notices Kyungsoo, who is still staring unblinkingly at their unconscious capture.

“Kyungsoo, you alright?”

“What if someone  _is_  dumb enough to do that,” Kyungsoo mumbles and the other three turns to look at him, confusion written all of their faces. Looking up to face his hyungs, Kyungsoo repeats himself. “What if someone  _is_  dumb enough to swallow diamonds? It is a way to hide something, albeit an extremely stupid way to do so.”

Jongdae shivers from the half-hidden excitement shinning in Kyungsoo’s wide eyes; he could never get used to the young man’s enthusiasm for any opportunity to dissect something, or someone. Without waiting for a response to his speculation, the eighteen year old delivers a powerful kick at Lee Kwangsoo’s stomach, extracting a muffled groan from the man tied on the floor as he wakes up from the pain.

“I felt something weird!” Kyungsoo exclaims and something dangerous flickers in his dark eyes, “there’s definitely something hard in his stomach, like diamonds for example!” Ignoring the pain showing on the other’s sweating face, the birthday boy kicks Lee Kwangsoo couple of times more in the stomach.

“Then let’s cut him up.” Chanyeol says in a nonchalant tone as he walks to stand across from Kyungsoo, the tip of his feet touching against the curly hair man’s back, now drenched in cold sweat. Having regained full consciousness, Lee Kwangsoo wiggles frantically on the floor while letting out sequences of muffled screams. Completely ignorant of the pitiful struggle right below their noses, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo starts discussing about the equipment they’d need to open up their victim.

“Chanyeol, you spoil Kyungsoo too much,” Baekhyun sighs after seeing the crazy ‘goddamn-do-something-about-this’ looks Jongdae was shooting at him, “Don’t you think we should at least ask him about it first? It’s impossible to feel diamonds in a person’s stomach with just a couple of kicks, you know.”

Kyungsoo blink blankly at the con artist, as if the other has just sputtered nonsense from his mouth. Taking this chance, Jongdae goes to the tied man, who is freaking out so much he looks like he is about to pass out any second, and removes the gag. He then immediately regrets his decision to do so the next second.

“PLEASE DON’T CUT ME UP, PLEASE I BEG YOU!” Lee Kwangsoo shrieks at the top of his lung, earning him a death glare from Jongdae.

“Scream like that again and I’ll leave you to the other two,” the hacker says through gritted teeth and mentioning towards Kyungsoo and Chanyeol who are smiling down at him like devil reincarnates. Terrified, a small whimper escapes from Lee Kwangsoo’s throat and he nods vigorously at Jongdae. Releasing a sigh, the hacker instigates his questioning.

“Good. Now, where did you hide the other 15 diamonds?”

“Wh- what are you talking about? I only took 15!” Lee Kwangsoo argues weakly.

“Bullshit. Tell me the truth and I’ll consider sparing you from the two lunatics over there.” Jongdae threatens and motions towards the arsonist and birthday boy again.

“I.. I…” Kwangsoo’s gaze strays around and eventually his eyes tear up as he looks straight into the hacker’s eyes like an animal caught in a trap, begging for help, “they won’t actually cut me, right?” 

“You’re fucking kidding me…” Jongdae mutters and places a hand on his forehead; Kyungsoo was right, there really  _is_  someone dumb enough to swollen diamonds. Behind him, Baekhyun is cackling and rolling back and forth on the bed while rioting “he is so stupid hahaha”. Jongdae feels a huge headache come on and as he slump back onto the couch, he reminds himself again that he does not work with psychopaths; simply an arsonist who’s obsessed with an orphan that enjoys dissecting live persons and concocting poison, and an asshole con artist who gives no shit about anyone except himself and nothing but money. ‘Your life is so completely normal!’ his inner voice screams sarcastically, escalating the intensity of the pounding in his head.

Shrugging at the brief interlude, Chanyeol shoves the gag back into Lee Kwangsoo’s mouth, sending the curly hair man into another spasm of pointless struggles on the floor. Taking a minute to think everything over, Kyungsoo tosses a random piece of clothing from the floor at Baekhyun, catching the latter’s attention.

“Hyung, you still have that large plastic tarp in your trunk?” the young man asks while Chanyeol walks off to the washroom, looking for rubbing alcohol. Baekhyun nods as he wipes away a stray tear from laughing too much. “Could you bring it here please? More gloves and masks too.”

“Sure. I’ll bring the ketamine up as well.” Baekhyun responds casually, as if he was just asked to go buy dinner and he’s offering to buy the drinks too. Jongdae lowers his hand and stares disapprovingly at the con artist, but before he could find his voice, Baekhyun answers the question in his mind, “I have ketamine just in case I need to knock someone out,” he smirks and winks, “I also have morphine for pain if you need it.”

Shaking his head, Jongdae mumbles feeling defeated: “Just something for headache, like Advil or something.”

“Okay.” Baekhyun says cheerfully and leaves the apartment with bounce in his steps, leaving Jongdae behind with the two maniacs eagerly and diligently preparing a ‘surgery’ station on top of the small dining table. Looking down again at the struggling and now crying Lee Kwangsoo, Jongdae could not help but feel sympathetic towards the poor fellow.

“Jongdae-hyung, could you go get some ice packs?” Kyungsoo’s rather calm voice sounds from the kitchen and the hacker turns around to see the younger man carefully sharpening a fruit knife on a sharpening stone he has found underneath the kitchen sink.

“Do you have to cut him up? Isn’t there any other way to get the diamonds out? It’s just so… messy.” Jongdae whines and crinkles his nose, imagining all the blood they’d have to clean up afterwards.

Pausing from sharpening the knife in his hand, Kyungsoo regards the hacker stoically. “What, are we supposed to wait until he poops them out?” he asks seriously, “We don’t have the time. It’ll be fine, it’s not like this is my first time. I know how to do it quickly and cleanly.” With that said, Kyungsoo goes back to his task on hand.

Taking his last chance at making a plea for sanity, he looks up at Chanyeol who has just returned from the bathroom with rubbing alcohol in hand. However he slaps himself silly in his mind when he is greeted with a shark-like grin and thrill-seeking sparkles in the arsonist’s eyes. He should have known to plead Chanyeol for sanity; the giant is probably the least mentally stable out of them all. Resigning to the majority and their insanities, Jongdae rises from the couch and walks up to Lee Kwangsoo with the stun gun in his hand. Sighing for the third time that night, he pressed the stun gun against the trembling man’s chest and put an end to the muffled screams and sobs. Begrudgingly, he finds a re-usable shopping bag in one of the cupboards and leaves for the convenience store for ice packs. As the door closes, he hears the quiet conversation between Kyungsoo and Chanyeol about using fire to sterilize the sharpened fruit knife.

\---

When Jongdae returns to the apartment half an hour later, the distinct smell of freshly spilt blood has completely overpowered the existing whiffs of left over ramen in the air. Standing by the dining table turned operating table with a huge plastic tarp covering the surface, Kyungsoo’s raincoat and gloved hands are covered in blood that were not his own; Chanyeol standing on the opposite side looks no better. Deliberately avoiding the gruesome scene straight out of hospital theme horror movie, Jongdae hurries into the kitchen with his head bowing and shoves the half dozen of ice pack he purchased inside the freezer. Having worked mostly behind scenes away and from bloodshed, the hacker is less immune to the blood and gore aspects of EXO jobs. Catching another whiff of the raw scent of blood mixed discordantly with the pungent smell of rubbing alcohol, Jongdae’s lunch lurches in his stomach and he rushes into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. Ignorant of the sequence of dry heaving and vomiting from his team mate, Kyungsoo’s fingers gropes around carefully in Lee Kwangsoo’s stomach while Chanyeol acts diligently as his assistant; every couple of minutes, a bloody diamond would land on the plate by the drugged up man with a crispy clink. Sitting cross-legged on the couch, Baekhyun leisurely reads the news on his phone until a new message pops up on the screen, instantaneously killing his good mood.

_Oh Sehun is back in town. He didn’t send any word out (yet), but if I were you, I’d be careful._

In Baekhyun’s ears, the periodic jangle of diamond landing on porcelain plate slowly starts to resemble the rhythmic beat of the bamboo rocker arm hitting a rock in that seemingly serene Japanese garden. The faint smell of incense, the temperature of sunlight through the paper screen door, the bitter taste of matcha and the sheen in that man’s slender eyes, Baekhyun wishes he could erase it all from his memory. ‘I know who you are,’ the man had said confidently as his long fingers grazed gently over the tatami, ‘but that matters not to me. You will be mine one day, Byun Baekhyun, even if you’re dead.’ Unconsciously as waves of reminiscence hit him, the con artist tightens the grip on his phone, out of hate or fear even he is not sure. Unaware of anything except the unpleasant acidic burn in his throat, Jongdae stumbles out of the washroom and plops himself on the couch by Baekhyun. Groaning and moaning, he naturally links arm with the con artist and buries his face into the crook of the other’s neck; distracted by his haunting memories still, Baekhyun absentmindedly pets Jondae’s hair like he would do to a puppy. Behind them, Kyungsoo drops the last missing diamond on the plate and Chanyeol grins idiotically at the younger man, both of their raincoats covered in patches of blood.

“And that’s all thirty of them,” Chanyeol says satisfyingly and takes the plate of diamonds towards the sink to clean them.

“If I knew this job was going to be this gross, I’d have asked for more money from Kris,” Jongdae mumbles miserably from the crook of Baekhyun’s neck. Finally noticing how quiet the con artist has been for the past little while, Jongdae raises his head and pinches Baekhyun’s cheek. “What’s wrong with you? Kyungsoo’s disgusting hobby finally got to you?”

“Don’t do that!” Baekhyun snaps and reactively, he jumps away from Jongdae’s touch, leaning his body back as far away from the hacker as possible without falling over. Awkwardly, the two men remain in that position; Jongdae’s eyes darken, catching the flash of panic in Baekhyun’s eyes, and his face blanks when the other quickly hid all of his emotions again behind his trade mark smile.

“I’m not you, Jongdae, I can handle blood just fine.” The con artist recovers, the tone of his voice disgustingly mellow and unnaturally composed, pretending as if the last two seconds did not happen, and pokes the hacker back on the cheek. Wordlessly, Jongdae stares at Baekhyun’s charming smile and let the latter shameless teases him about his intolerance for violence even though he works in EXO; he could tell something is wrong, but with Baekhyun, Jongdae is never quite sure what is wrong or how he should even start figuring out the other’s concerns. Suddenly feeling annoyed at both himself and Baekhyun, Jongdae swats the con artist away and gets up in a grouch to help Chanyeol with the clean-up. Watching the hacker’s retreating back, Baekhyun purses his lower lip and goes to watch Kyungsoo stitching up his victim. As his eyes mist over and follow the needle that pierces into and through tender flesh, guiding a bloody thread to sealing the open wound, something also silently reseals inside of him. Recalling the look in Jongdae’s cat like eyes from earlier, the con artist kicks himself mentally. The hacker already knows too much of Baekhyun than the con artist would like him to know.

When the moon just passes the centre of the sky, four familiar figures re-emerge stealthily from the aged blue apartment building. Quietly making their way to the only car parked on the side of the road, the dim streetlight illuminates their tired faces.

“Back seat or trunk?” Chanyeol asks quietly as he nods at the unconscious body in his arms. If it’s not for the thin layer of sweat on Lee Kwangsoo’s forehead, one would think the unconscious man is already dead since his skin has taken up an ashy hue.

“Back seat?” Jongdae answers tentatively as he eyes the two dozens of ice packs taped around the injured man’s stomach. Kyungsoo said this will help decrease the chance for infection and increase his chance for survival back to Seoul, but the hacker thinks otherwise; Jongdae thinks the ice packs are simply freezing the poor man one step closer to him untimely death.

“Definitely trunk,” both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo replies with certainty, making Jongdae sigh again at his lack of ability that night to fall in steps with the majority.

“Trunk it is,” Chanyeol finalizes the decision and places the man on top of the pile of bloody raincoats and plastic tarp, surprisingly gentle with his action. “I’ll drive back, Baek. You must be tired from the drive here, so take a rest.”

Having no intention to argue with the arsonist at all, Baekhyun tosses Chanyeol the car key and climbs into the back seats, dragging Jongdae with him while winking suggestively at the hacker. Catching on to the con artist’s plotting right away, Jongdae giggles and kicks Kyungsoo towards the passenger seat before he quikly follows Baekhyun into the back seats. Rolling his eyes at his hyungs, the birthday boy slowly settles in the passenger seat. When Chanyeol saw it is Kyungsoo sitting next to him, his flashes a shark-like grin at the younger man and reaches over to help buckle his seatbelt. Kyungsoo would have thought of nothing of this action if the two meddlers in the back haven’t started snickering and whispering like the gossiping adjummas in the park; suddenly, the young man’s cheeks start to burn as Chanyeol’s handsome profile hovers merely inches from his face. Feeling embarrassed suddenly at their intimacy, Kyungsoo shoves Chanyeol away while stuttering.

“I- I can’t d-do it my-myself!” Behind him, Jongdae and Baekhyun’s snickering becomes louder and over reactively, they clamp both hands over their mouth. The redness of their faces could rival Kyungsoo’s, but for different reasons; desperately, they try too hard not to burst out laughing in fear of the birthday boy’s explosive temper. His face now as red as a ripe tomato, Kyungsoo screams at the oblivious driver. “Just go already!”

Blinking couple of times at the other’s bright red face, Chanyeol breaks into another huge, happy smile and starts up the car with vigor. “Alright, let’s go back to Seoul!” Slipping into the surrounding darkness, the BMW quickly disappears from the quiet Busan neighbourhood.

Time remaining: 7 hours.

\---

Luhan blinks slowly at the visible Milky Way in the night sky and the gentle breeze blowing by pushes lightly at the large porch swing. All around, it’s the same garden with the same rose coloured hydrangea trees. Pulling one leg closer to his chest and having his other leg dangle loosely from the swing, his bare toes drag softly against the grassy ground. Next to him, Xiumin sits in the swing with folded legs and arms. His head tiling to the right and leaning against the wooden frame, the EXO leader sleeps soundly. Listening to his friend’s even breathing, Luhan turns his attention to the clearing right in front of the large swing, surrounded by the thickets of never-welting hydrangeas. Under the glistening starlight, two small glowing figures from the past materialized.

A boy with puffy cheeks and another boy with doe eyes run around in a circle, chasing each other and shouting excitedly. The boys that look no more than seven are dressed in the same set of uniform, a plain, white long sleeve shirt with matching white pants. However, different sets codes are printed on their back; 363N for the boy with puffy cheeks and 345N for the boy with beautiful eyes. Falling backward onto the grass, the boys take in a big breath of fresh air; it has been another week since they were last outside. Blinking at the clouds, the boy with puffy cheeks suddenly remembers something and reaching into his pocket, he pulls out two marbles, intricate and colourful like two tiny galaxies.

“Look marbles!” he said and shows his new treasure to the other boy, who stares at the glass orbs with starry eyes, “Soomyeon hyung gave them to me yesterday!”  

“Woooaahhhh!” the doe-eyed boy exclaims in awe, not able to pull his eyes away from the marbles, “They are so pretty! Soomyeon hyung is the best!”

“Right? I think so too.” the puffy cheek boy smiles sweetly at the small orbs in his hand and his eyes squints cutely, making him look like a tiny fox. Placing the marbles on the grass, the two boys flick them around while they chatter about the professors and the new kids that arrived yesterday. Neither boy really like the lab but they have nowhere else; like the other orphans, they were sold to the lab two years ago as test subjects.

“Soomyeon hyung was fighting with the professors again yesterday…” the boy with puffy cheeks mumbles as he lies flat on his stomach, one of his cheeks presses into the grass.

“Why? Because of us again?” The boy with doe eyes blinks innocently, “Soomyeon hyung said one day he will take all of us out of the lab, do you think it’s true?”

Neither boy has the answer and quietly, they just stare at the colourful marbles in the grass. Suddenly, a shuffling noise is heard from nearby and nimbly, the boy with deer-like eyes sits up. Not far from behind a tree, another boy dressed in all white peers shyly at them. Silently, the three boys regard each other until finally, the new boy timidly comes out from his hiding place. When he reaches the two boys clenching their marbles cautiously in their hands, the new boy in white smiles genuinely and offers his hand.

“I- I have a marble too,” he stutters nervously as his cheeks flush, “can we be friends?”

“Pfft!” the doe-eyed boy bursts out laughing at the new boy’s cuteness and eagerly, he grabs hold of the other’s extended hand, “Of course! I’m 345N, you?”

“I- I don’t have a code…” the new boy replies quickly, “but my name is Suho!”

“Oh, you must be new. No worries! But since you told us your name, I’ll tell you mine as well.” The boy with pretty eyes smiles sincerely and a faint blush taints his cheeks too, “You can call me Luhan.”

“And I am 363N,” the boy with puffy cheeks finally joins in the conservation with a smile, “you can call me Xiumin.”

Radiant with happiness, the eight year old Suho greets his two new friends. “Hi Luhan. Hi Xiumin. Let’s be good friends!”

Watching the three glowing boys giggle at each other, Luhan shuts his eyes and with a flick of his wrist, the figures vanished in the sweeping breeze. It is always in dreams when the most distant memories resurface and haunt the present. Smelling the faint aroma of the hydrangea, Luhan let his mind wander, away from the past that cannot be rewritten. Soon, he slips into slumber and his consciousness glides freely between stranger’s dreams and unconsciousness.

When the star lights begin to fade, gradually replaced by the rising sun, Luhan opens his eyes again.

“They’re back.” He whispers and reaches out to the sleeping man next to him on the large porch swing, “Xiumin, Kyungsoo’s back in Seoul.”

Time remaining: 1 hour.

\---

Pulling up to the meeting place agreed upon by Suho and Kris, Xiumin gets out of his car with ten minutes to spare. Picking up the large black sac from his truck and swing it over his shoulder, the leader walks briskly down the hallway. When he reaches the room at the end, a body guard opens the door, revealing Kris dressed in a sleek black suit siting in one of the armchairs facing each other; long fingers folded on top of his crossed leg, the morning rays bathe over his handsome features and lean body. At the sound of the door opening, he turns sharply to glare at Xiumin and his deep voice glowers with impatience.

“You’re almost late.”

“Almost,” Xiumin emphasizes and gently places the sac down on the ground. Fishing a smaller black pouch from his inner jacket pocket, he tosses it to the glaring man. Coolly catching the jangling pouch, Kris opens it and confirms the content. Satisfied and visibly relieved, he tucks the pouch away and turns to nod at the large sac on the ground.

“What is this?”

“Bonus find for you,” Xiumin replies simply and opens the sac, revealing a pale face.

“Why is he here?” Kris questions calmly but his voice sounds deeper and little raspier, exposing his inner agitation, “don’t tell me his dead.”

“No, not yet,” the EXO leader places his finger beneath the injured man’s nose just to be certain, “just a little cut up. Do you want us to dispose of him for you?”

Kris regards the man in front of him emotionlessly and Xiumin also looks straight back at him blankly but confidently. Sparing another brief glance at the dying body on the ground and remembering Chanyeols bone-chilling voice over the phone yesterday, the diamond dealer did not want to think further of what potentially happened to Lee Kwangsoo. Not wanting to bother with it anymore, he waves a hand at Xiumin and tells the man they can deal with the dying man however they want.

Nodding, the leader bends down to re-tie the sac and swings it over his should again. As he walks out, he says: “I’ll add another half a million to your bill then, thanks Kris.”

“What kind of rip off is this?” Kris glares again and finally raises his voice, “another half a million just to dispose of a little thief. Don’t try to push my button, Xiumin.”

Twisting his neck to face the angry dealer, Xiumin glares back fiercely but keeping his tone as cold as ice. “Don’t push  _my_  buttons, Kris. The time was cut short and we even need to get rid of a person now. 2 million. You can send that to my shop afterwards.” Not willing to entertain the argument anymore, Xiumin swiftly steps out the room and left Kris to glare at the air.

As he slides Lee Kwangsoo into the backseat instead of the trunk again, a Rolls-Royce Phantom pulls up beside his Audi A3. Ignoring blatantly, Xiumin slams the backdoor shut and climbs into the driver’s seat. However before he could drive away as fast as he could, someone knocks on the window. Hiding his annoyance behind a cold façade, he rolls down the tinted window and is greeted with Suho’s smirking face.  

“Not even bothering to say hi now?”

“No point.”

Dramatically placing a hand over his heart, Suho teases playfully, contradictory to his ruthless reputation. “You treat me so coldly, old friend!” Xiumin’s eyes twitched a little at the last two words, and having caught the EXO leader’s reaction, Suho’s smirk widens even more. “See you around, 363N, and remember to say hi to 345N for me.

“Bye bye!” Suho waves and strolls into the meeting place, leaving behind Xiumin seething in muted frustration as his eyes follow Suho’s every move. Muttering a curse under his breath, the EXO leader steps on the gas petal and his car sped away down the road.

When he finally returns to his tiny coffee shop with the close sign hanging crookedly on the front door, he sees four young men slumping and hanging in weird positions on the table and chairs by their usual table in the corner. Biting back an endearing chuckle, Xiumin walks in alongside the crispy trill of the bell above the door. Jongdae is the only one that looks up and lazily, he greets the leader.

“Hyung, you’re finally back.”

“Mm,” Xiumin answers and makes his way behind the counter. Placing a handful of roasted coffee beans into the grinder, the quiet man quietly prepares the much needed beverage for his fatigued teammates. When the coffee is grounded and scoped into an extra-large French press, he adds the boiling water and caps the press. Grabbing five mugs, milk, cream and the sugar jar, placing all of it on a wide wooden tray along with the French press, Xiumin joins the four sleepy people sitting in the corner table. Enticed by the dark and smoky smell of fresh coffee, everyone except Kyungsoo, who has already fallen asleep on the table, grabs a mug.

“What happened to Lee Kwangsoo?” Chanyeol asks languidly after yawning, trying to rub sleep out of his eyes.

“I’ve tossed him to Yixing,” Xiumin says lightly, “Kris said we could do whatever we like with him. Even if we don’t kill him, I’m sure there’s someone out there that will want to. I don’t want any one of us to dirty our hands unnecessarily. Once he recovers, his life and death will be in his hands.”

Baekhyun nods numbly and stares vacantly at the pot of coffee, brewing too slowly for his liking. “And our fee?”

“2 million.”

“He didn’t argue with you about it?” Chanyeol looks surprisingly at the leader, “Kris is a cheap ass, just like Baekhyun.” The said person interjects defensively with a weak shout of “Hey!”, but too sleepy to further his self-defence.

“He knows better than to bargain with me,” the leader scoffs, arrogance in his tone, “If you feel bad, Chanyeol, then give him some discount next time he buys explosives from you.”

“It’s alright, I don’t feel bad for him at all!” The arsonist quickly shakes his head and Jongdae laughs at his friend. A small smile crawls up Xiumin’s face. Gently plunging the strainer down, he pushes it all the way to the bottom to stop the brewing process. Carefully, he pours the caffeinated beverage into each person’s then his own mug.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee is in the air and the soft morning sunlight shines through the clean windows, dusting everything and everyone in a thin layer of gold. Peacefully, an arsonist, a hacker, a con artists and a former gang leader sips contently at their coffee, and a genius orphan skilled at concocting poison snoozes comfortably by their side. Xiumin looks down at the sleeping Kyungsoo and dotingly, he soothes the young man’s hair. Next to the sleeping boy, Chanyeol stares blankly at the sceneries outside the window, lost in his thoughts, just like Jongdae who is also zoning out into space. Baekhyun too sips at his hot drink absentmindedly as his gaze lingers on the dark cellphone screen. Seemingly, there is only tranquility and harmony inside the tiny coffee shop.

If only their lives are as serene as this false image in that particular morning.

But they are EXO, the underground group in Seoul that will do any dirty job for the appropriate price. Breaking the rare silence between them, Xiumin pulls out his phone and begins to speak, his tone serious.

“So, the next job…”

\---

**Arch I Fin.**

_TBC_

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this concludes arc 1! I can tell you there will be five more arcs based on each character: baekhyun, jongdae, xiumin, chanyeol, and kyungsoo (in this order). This first arc sets everything up and there will be an epilogue at the very end. Thanks for reading!


	6. Arc II: Dirty Love (Part I)

_“Baek, let’s play a game.”_

_Two teenage boys sprawled their limbs across the tatami floor and their legs tangled with each other’s. The bitter smell of matcha lingered in the air from earlier. Outside in the quiet courtyard, petals of cherry blossom fell silently onto the surface of the mirroring pond. Everything seemed too tranquil, much like the calm before the storm._

_“Hm…What game?”_

_A beautiful boy smiled sleepily. Eyes closed, his long lashes fluttered in the afternoon sun. Beside him, another handsome boy with a sharp jaw line and a fair countenance gazed intensely at his soft profile._

_“Tag. Let’s play tag.”_

_The fair skin boy said with a faint lisp to his words. His blue eyes narrowed and a roguish grin spread across his lips._ _The boy with soft features tilted his head and regarded the other with hazy eyes. His purple bangs swipe against his lashes and being lazy, he let the loose hair tumble slowly across his forehead. A breath of spring breezed by, rattling the small wind chime by the window and its elongated shadow swung back and forth on the wall._

_"Why do we always have to play tag... I'm lazy right now. I don't want to run."_

_His grin widened but not reaching his blue eyes, the handsome boy reached over and brushed away the falling bangs. Gently, he pinched the sleepy boy's cheek._

_"It's because I like chasing after you, Baek. It's fun when you run away from me."_

_Their eyes met and Baekhyun felt coldness slither slowly down his back, as if someone just rubbed an ice cube on his spine._

_"It's like hunting a prey,” the blue eyed boy whispers seductively, “I like hunting."_

_Suddenly, the room darkened and a gust of wind dispersed all the cherry blossoms. Dark rolling clouds gathered overhead and thunder rumbled ominously in the sky. Large pellets of rain drops thrashed against the old roof tiles and a distinct dampness settled in the tatami room. In the dim light, Baekhyun’s breath hitched in a panic as waves of unfamiliar hot flushes washed over his adolescent body. It was hard to breathe and it was even harder to think straight._

_"Wait, Sehun, wh-what are you doing..."_

_“You're my prey Byun Baekhyun and don’t think for one second you can ever escape from me."_

_The owner of the husky voice hovered threateningly close to Baekhyun's burning body and his cold blue eyes peered hungrily at the trembling boy. Terrified, Baekhyun wanted to shout out but fear sealed his throat. Slowly, Sehun lowered his body and roughly rubbed their hardness together, extracting a painful gasp from the tense body beneath him._

_"Shhhh," Sehun whispered and his lusty eyes met with Baekhyun's teary ones, "Good boy…good boy…"_

_“NO!”_

Baekhyun jerks awake. Staring wide-eyed at the multiple monitors affixed to the wall of EXO’s surveillance van, he heaves frantically. He hasn’t dreamt of that person in such a long time. It is all because of that text a few weeks ago, the con artists scowls quietly and brings his hands to cover his bagged eyes. Enjoying total darkness as his heartbeats return to normal, he sinks into his seat. Two pairs of curious eyes watch his every move from the side. Baekhyun curses in his mind and waits for the incoming questions.

Black and white images of streets and a house twitch erratically on the old monitor screens. Kyungsoo gulps and carefully observes his two hyungs. He can tell that something is wrong, not just with the con artist but also between him and the hacker. Since the other has jolted awake, the dark glint in Jongdae’s eyes did not go away. Noticing Kyungsoo’s sharp eyes on him, the hacker returns a pointed looked at the boy and gives him a rough nudge on the arm. The van settles back into silence and the sound of breathing suddenly becomes very pronounced. Annoyed at the stiff atmosphere, Baekhyun snaps in a low voice.

“Out with it or hold your fucking peace forever.”

Glaring at Jongdae who nudges and sends him another look, Kyungsoo asks almost timidly.

“Um… Are you alright, Baekhyun hyung?”

The man in question rolls his eyes and the hacker shoves Kyungsoo’s shoulder impatiently. The boy glares harder at Jongdae and slaps back with double the force. Ignoring the other hissing loudly in pain, Kyungsoo asks again, still sounding somewhat hesitant.

“Hyung… Who’s Sehun?”

Baekhyun puts his legs up on the edge of the control station and leans back and forth against the back of his chair. The silence in the van is replaced by the squeaking of the chair, trying not to break apart underneath the con artist’s waving weight. Watching the other’s movements, Jongdae almost starts tapping his feet out of irritation. He is never the one for patience; if he wants something, he gets it. That’s precisely why he became a hacker. Kyungsoo on the other hand continues to watch Baekhyun with curious eyes. It is rare to see the other in such a bad mood that he gets bags under his eyes; ‘Looks are everything to a successful con artist, aside from a brilliant mind of course,’ the charming man would always say with a wink. 

“How do you know that name?” Baekhyun asks suddenly, his tone light as if he just asked about the weather. Jongdae groans out of frustration and interjects Kyungsoo before the boy could speak again.

“You know exactly how we know,” the hacker says in agitation, much to Kyungsoo’s surprise. However Baekhyun isn’t. He knows Jongdae has been going around sniffing about his past since couple of weeks ago, after their little awkward incidence in Busan. The con artist doesn’t understand why the hacker holds so much interest in him, but he doesn’t like it. His life is messy enough already; he does not need someone to stir up more shit by rummaging through his past.

“You were mumbling that name in your sleep,” Jongdae composed himself again, trying to sound as nonchalant as ever as he fiddles with the computer in his lap, “So, who is this Sehun you dream of even when we are in the middle of a job?”

Baekhyun narrows his eyes but quickly masks his mood with his usual charming smile. Getting up from his seat, he ruffles Kyungsoo’s hair and get an earful of very loud and very verbal protest. Without even sparing a glance at Jongdae who is also busy pretending not to care about him, he grips on to the door handle. Back turned towards his teammates, Baekhyun responds flatly.

“Oh Sehun was my best friend,” then with a jerk of his wrist, the van door slides open and the dim street light pours in. Taking one look at Chanyeol who waves cheerfully as he approaches the van, Baekhyun turns around and smiles faintly. 

“He also raped me.”

His voice was as cold as the freezing February wind. Scoffing quietly through his nose, Baekhyun’s fingers fall limply from the door handle and he walks off, leaving behind a shocked Kyungsoo and a frozen Jongdae. When he brushed shoulder with Chanyeol, he glances judgingly at the arsonist’s shirt.

“That is a hideous shirt, Chanyeol, burn it,” the con artist comments and disappears down the road. Offended and confused, the arsonist complains to his friends inside the van.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” he asks while holding on to the door frame, “What crawled up his ass?”

Kyungsoo buries his face in his hands and mumbles “you’ve no idea how inappropriate that is right now”, making Chanyeol even more confused. Turning to Jongdae for clarification, he is only greeted with the hacker clutching his teeth tightly and typing furiously away at his laptop. Poking Kyungsoo on his arm, the arsonist asks quietly.

“What’s wrong with Jongdae too? Did he fight with Baekhyun?”

Kyungsoo looks up and sighs. Getting up from his seat, he shoves Chanyeol away from the van. Ignoring the other’s whiny protest, Kyungsoo drags the giant off and slams the door behind them. Silence and dimness return to the van as the black and white images on the monitors continue to twitch. Pausing from his typing, Jongdae stares blankly at the profile information of Oh Sehun on his computer screen. The eerie glow of the screen illuminates his emotionless face and a dangerous glint flickers in his eyes. He’s afraid that Baekhyun was not lying for once and that sets his heart on fire. 

In one of the monitor screens, Baekhyun’s slight figure can be seen standing in the snow, leaning against an icy fence. Taking a drag from his cigarette and exhaling slowly, the con artist watches as puffs of smoke floats up to the dim street light. He hates winter, but at least it’s not spring time. He really hates spring.

\---

Yixing looks up at Xiumin from adjusting Luhan’s medical ventilators.

“Is that frown permanently stuck to your face all the time or just when you see me?” The doctor asks flatly and to his amusement, the frown on the other’s face deepens.

“How is he?” Xiumin asks instead and avoids the doctor’s question. Approaching the bed, he sits down by Luhan’s side. Brushing a stray hair away from the other’s pale face, his hand traces gently down the sleeping man’s angular jaw line. The doctor watches without any inhibition and answers calmly.

“Fine,” he flips through the charts again, “everything is stable and his organs are also functioning well.”

Xiumin nods and lets out a small breath of relief he didn’t even realize he was holding. Eyes still glued to the sleeping man’s tranquil face, the EXO leader gently wraps his hand around Luhan’s freezing ones. Behind him, Yixing begins to pack up. However before he could slip away in the night, Xiumin stops him with another question.

“How much longer?”

Pausing at the door, the doctor turns to face the man frowning once again at him. Chuckling at the consistent expression on the other’s face, Yixing answers in his usual flat voice.

“Soon.”

“What exactly does soon mean?” Xiumin presses on, a suppressed urgency embedded in his tone, “It has already been three years. Are you still waiting for the parts of the machine? I thought Kris already gave you those. Or are yo-”

“I need more time with Kyungsoo.” Yixing interjects and a steely sheen coats his eyes. Looking straight into the other’s burning gaze, the doctor repeats himself firm and clear. “I need more time with Kyungsoo.”

Xiumin tightens his hands around Luhan’s cold ones, leaving behind disturbing red marks. However he did not rebut the doctor and nods in understanding instead, even if the anger is boiling inside of him. Ever since he lost Luhan to the coma, Xiumin felt more pathetic and powerless than he ever had in his entire life. Constantly, he feels like a pawn being used in a game he cannot see the entirety of. This was why he chose to leave the lab, then the gang life behind in the first place; but like always, the course of his life is rarely of his choosing. Subconsciously feeling the code inked on his back stinging mockingly, Xiumin looks away from Yixing.

“Just don’t hurt him.” He mumbles and bares the pain of guilt eating away at his heart. The doctor raises an eyebrow and amusement dances in his eyes.

“Don’t hurt him?” Yixing retorts, “For someone who sold the boy to me as payment, I didn’t think you’d care so much.”

“I didn’t sell him to you!” Xiumin snaps and stands up suddenly. Swiftly closing the distance between them, he holds back the urge to punch the doctor while he bites each word out through his teeth. “It’s just a trade. You were after research and I was seeking for a method to wake someone from a coma. I provide you with research material and you cure Luhan. I am not selling Kyungsoo and never had sold him to you! I care a lot about him; he’s practically a real brother to me!”

A small smirk surfaces on Yixing’s face as he feels Xiumin’s hot, huffing breath merely inches away from his face. Placing a hand on the other’s shoulder and giving it a firm squeeze, a dim glint of insanity sparks in his dark orbs.

“Exactly, he is the research material you sold to me in exchange for my medical expertise. Don’t lie to yourself too; it’s bad enough that you already lie to Lu.” The doctor says while nodding at the comatose patient on the bed. Chuckling in satisfaction at the pain and self-loath filling up in Xiumin’s sharp cat eyes, Yixing loosens the grip on his shoulder and gives it a pat instead. “Don’t worry, I’m not hurting him. I’m only getting urine and blood samples from him. I’m not crazy enough to cut up your person, yet.” Xiumin locks eyes with the doctor and a shiver surges down his back. “Good night, Kim.”

Still smirking, the doctor bows politely and walks out of the apartment. Glaring at the front door, Xiumin balls his hand into a fist, almost drawing blood from his palm with his nails. Turning back into the room where Luhan lies silently throughout the entire exchange, the leader delivers a powerful punch into the back of the lounge chair he always napped in. Bending over and panting for breath, Xiumin shuts his eyes and apologizes over and over again in his head. He apologized to Luhan, to Kyungsoo, and to himself. He apologized for being weak, for being untruthful and for becoming someone he has always hated: a manipulative bastard trapped in the game of money or hell. Laughing bitterly at himself, he watches the snowflakes dance wildly in the wind.

‘You remind me of the snow Xiumin,’ he remembers Luhan used to say as they huddled by a burning garbage can for warmth in the bleak winters, ‘so clean and cold… just like the snow.’ 

“Still cold but no longer clean…” Xiumin whispers in the dimly lit room. His phone buzzes in his pocket and bring it to view, he sees a goodnight message from Kyungsoo. Staring blankly at the screen for a moment, he then replies to the message. Tossing his phone onto the lounge chair, he walks over to Luhan again. Curling up next to the sleeping man, Xiumin holds the other’s cold hand against his cheek and tries to forget about Yixing’s words. The wind and snow are picking up outside, blinding people from the sceneries of the world. It’s another cold, cold night.

\---

Crunching the snow beneath their feet, Chanyeol and Baekhyun stroll leisurely down the path away from Kyungsoo and Jongdae’s apartment building. Around the corner, the light of a small food shop is still on and Chanyeol cheers happily, jogging towards it as fast as he could. Shaking his head and chuckling at the giant’s high spirit, the con artist follows and they duck into the small shop. Mumbling about the cursed winter weather, Chanyeol chugs down the hot tea in one gulp and pours himself another cup, before chugging it down in one go again. Across from him, Baekhyun carefully blows on the hot liquid and enjoys the faint bitter aroma. The shop is practically empty, with only the two of them in one corner and two half-drunk old men slurring away in the opposite corner. Soon their food comes and both men dig in without holding back. Half way through their meal, Chanyeol speaks up first with his mouth half full.

“What’s up with you today, so quiet.” a single grain of rice flies out of his mouth and Baekhyun pulls his bowl closer to himself, “Did you get in a fight with Jongdae?”

“Kyungsoo is right, you really are disgusting sometimes.” The con artist mumbles with a cringe on his face, judging unfavourably at the other’s messy eating style. Chanyeol cared not for his teasing and looks at him straight on, waiting patiently for an answer to his questions. Sighing in defeat after a minute of staring contest, Baekhyun replies sluggishly.

“No, we didn’t get into a fight. I’m just not in a good mood.” He looks down at his half eaten food, “Oh Sehun is back in town.”

Chanyeol pauses from his chewing and stares dumbly at the con artist. He has learned of this Oh Sehun and what he did to Baekhyun when they were both drunk out of their mind one time. Until today, the arsonist cannot forget how bad he felt when he saw a smile rather than a tear on con artist’s face as he told him the horrible deed the other had done when they were only teenagers.

“What sucked the most was that I can’t even bring myself to hate him!” The then drunk Baekhyun slurred and slammed a bottle of soju on the table repeatedly. “He was my first love, Chanyeol… What kind of fucked up first love is that, hm?”

That night, Chanyeol wept for his best friend until his eyes were swollen shut and Baekhyun hugged his best friend, mumbling ‘it’s alright, it’s all over now… I’m alright’ until they both fell asleep on the train.

“I told Kyungsoo and Jongdae what happened too,” the con artist squeezes out a fake smile, “I guess we are bonding!”

Chanyeol blinks then nods slowly. Gulping down the food in his mouth, he reaches out a warm hand to hold Baekhyun’s cold one.

“If you need me in any way at all, talking or drinking, but no sleeping or sexing, then I will be there for you!”

Surprised at the other’s heartfelt offer and the serious look on his face, Baekhyun gawks for a second before bursting out in genuine laughter. He is ever so thankful to have the arsonist cheering him up no matter when. Watching his best friend bend back and forth howling with glee, Chanyeol relaxes again and joins in on the merriment. Facing each other as smiles reflect in their eyes, Baekhyun feels very lucky that he has a best friend like Chanyeol, someone who will always be there for him without judgement. Reaching his hand over, he ruffles the arsonist’s messy locks like he would a dog’s fur.

“Ya, keep your dirty hand off of me!” Chanyeol shouts with his mouth full again and another stray grain of rice flies out of his mouth.

“Ya!” Baekhyun shouts back, dodging the flying white spec, “You’re disgusting! Is this how you talk to your hyung?”

Chanyeol scoffs and more grains of rice shoot out of his stuffed mouth. “Pfft, what hyung! We are the same year!”

“Still six months older than you, so I’m hyung okay?” Baekhyun argues childishly, making the smiling giant roll his eyes. Raising an eyebrow, the con artist teases his best friend again.

“Tsk tsk, look at your eye roll. You look exactly like Kyungsoo,” he smirks slyly as Chanyeol glares at him with a faint blush on his cheeks. Putting on a face that’s a bit more serious, he leans in closer and whispers.

“Do you like Kyungsoo that much, Yeol? Do you think it’s love?” Baekhyun winks but instead of the embarrassed Chanyeol he has anticipated, his best friend falls into silence and contemplates his question seriously.

“What do you think love is, Baek?” The arsonist retorts with a question and faces his friend in all seriousness. “I used to think love is the happy feeling I get when I spend time with my dad, or making bombs, or burn things. I always thought love is that giddy feeling from the pit of my stomach and that thrill that courses through my veins, delivering the pump of my heartbeat to every corner of my body, whenever I watched flames consume everything in its path.” Chanyeol’s eyes widened in ecstasy and a maniacal glint wavered in his eyes like a raging fire. However at the mention of that boy’s name, the fire in his eyes softens and tames.

“But when I’m with Kyungsoo, I feel those things but also different?” He says slightly doubtful and scratches the side of his head, “I feel excited and I feel giddy, but I also feel scared and I become greedy. I want him to look at me only, listen to what I have to say always, and I want to lock him away from everyone else. Is that really what love is or feels like? If so, I’m not sure if I want to be in love.” The giant lowers his head and his eyes darken; the amber buried deep flickers like a dying fire, “I don’t want to hurt Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun observes his friend carefully then lowers his head too. Without a doubt, he is sure Chanyeol is in love with Kyungsoo. ‘But being the twisted person he is, his love is somewhat perverse, like a weird combination of love and obsession?’ the con artists chuckles at his thoughts. Glancing up, he catches a pensive frown on the other’s face. A pang of envy hits him in the heart; to still believe in love, Baekhyun smiles bitterly, is a blessing he no longer has.

“Sorry buddy, but I don’t think I can help you out,” he says after taking a sip of his tea, “My profession relies on crafting the illusion of love, so I don’t think I know what real love is either.”

Chanyeol snaps out of his pondering and blinks at the con artist. “Don’t you think you’ll fall in love again?” he asks softly but the other avoids his gaze and continues to sip at his tea.

“What about Jongdae? I think he likes you.” The arsonist pushes on, “Don’t tell me you can’t feel the weird vibes he’s been sending you.”

Baekhyun chokes on his tea at his best friend’s word choices. Coughing until he could breathe again, the con artist sends his apologetic friend a glare.

“He doesn’t like me. Those weird vibes are his hacker waves… digging his nose into my business all the time,” he says and narrows his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol questions again, “Kyungsoo thinks he likes you too.”

Glancing lightly at his best friend, Baekhyun answers flatly. “No, but if he likes me then he’s an idiot.” Lowering his head, he focuses on the ring of water left behind by the tea cup on the table.

“I’m a con artist. My love will always be a lie because that’s what I do,” he says firmly, “Unless he’s happy living with a lie, then he can go ahead and get involved with me. But I don’t love. I will never love.”

The two old men in the opposite corner stumble out of the door and the shop is left in a state of stillness after the sliding door shuts with a click. Sniffing awkwardly, Chanyeol shoves a spoonful of food in his mouth. Urging his friend to also finish eating before the sun rises, grains of rice escape from the arsonist’s mouth and Baekhyun half laughs and half whines about it. Outside the snow piles up, like the heavy thoughts in their mind.

\---

Yixing looks down at his ringing phone and sighs in annoyance at the flashing number on the screen. Pulling his car to the curb, he picks up.

“Hello Doctor, guess who.” A man’s playful voice sounds over the phone.

“Mr. Oh, please stop calling me. I know who you are with and I am not interested in any of your offers. My answer is still no. So stop wasting my time and yours. Good night.” Hanging up before the other side could respond, Yixing turns his phone off and drops it to the bottom of his bag. Driving down the midnight road, he clutches firmly onto the stirring wheel. He will not share his research so easily with just anyone, especially the case that was lost twenty years ago. Ever since he learnt of it a decade ago, he’s been searching for it desperately. Finally, he is able to come in contact with the only living specimen remaining and he will do anything to ensure that nobody takes his research material away. Yixing’s eyes narrow at the flurries of ice and snow drifting about all around his car; he will never hand Doh Kyungsoo to the Kims, not over his dead body. 

Oh Sehun frowns reproachfully at the phone in his hand before tossing it onto the table with a loud clang. Grabbing his glass of scotch, he sips at it in contemplation. Next to him, a man of matted pink hair and tanned bronze skin also sips quietly at the rum from his flask. Glancing at his cousin, Sehun rolls his eyes in disapproval.

“Jongin hyung, can’t you drink from a glass for once?”

“Nope.” The tanned man answers lazily and drowns a yawn with another sip of rum. There is only the two of them left at the small bar, hidden away on the second floor of an old building in a small alley way. Jongin scans the bar roughly over and raises an eyebrow at the blue eyed man sitting across from him, who sipped elegantly on his scotch while glancing outside periodically.

“Go ahead, you can ask, I don’t mind.” Sehun speaks up before Jongin could question him. Smirking smugly at his tanned cousin, mischief and arrogance swirled around in the dark blue orbs.

“Why are you in Korea?” Jongin asks while taking another sip of his rum, feeling the warmth of the liquor travel through his body, “Tokyo’s getting too boring for you?”

“Did the family send you to surveillance me or something? No, Tokyo’s fine but I think Seoul is just more interesting right now.” Sehun replies and squinted his eyes into thin lines as he scrutinizes the ice cubes clinking around in the glass, “I heard Suho hyung is hunting for something interesting, something that was lost twenty years ago in ‘the incident’?”

Jongin gives him a warning look at the mention of the ‘the incident’. This is a taboo topic for the Kim Clan because the elders considered it a shameful act that tinted the family’s reputation. Ignoring his cousin’s sharp looks, Sehun continues his talk.

“I thought I could be of a help to him. I may not have the Kim name, but I’ve got the Kim blood flowing in me. After all,” a spark ignites in his dark blue eyes as he is gradually surrounded by a murderous aura, “I love to hunt.”

Unable to hold back a smile at his younger cousin’s perverse hobby, Jongin shakes his head. “Whatever, Sehun. Just make sure you don’t cause any trouble for Suho hyung, or else you’ll get it.”

“If he welcomes me with open arms, then of course there’ll be no trouble.” Sehun leans back into his seat and regards the pink hair man with his eerie blue eyes, “But if he wants to hog all the fun to himself, then he can’t blame me for also joining the race.”

He raises a suggestive eyebrow at Jongin and the latter frowns. Narrowing his eyes, the tanned man observes the pale and handsome man in front of him more carefully. Out of all the cousins in the Kim Clan, Jongin cannot deny he gets along the best with Sehun, even though the other lived in Tokyo for most of his life. Sehun’s mother was a daughter of the Kim family that married a half-Korean man, therefore making him half an outsider to the family business. However Jongin knows full well how terrifying his little cousin’s ambitions are. Despite the clan’s unofficial recognition of Suho as the next family head, Sehun thinks the game has yet to set. “Birthright is bullshit,” the younger man would always say to Jongin in private as his eyes squinted into thin lines from smirking like a sly fox, “the powerful will always emerge victorious, regardless.”

Finishing all the scotch in his glass, the blue eyed man nods at Jongin. “Any other question, my favourite cousin?”

“Yes. Why the hell are we drinking in this dingy bar?” Jongin asks and pours some of his rum into the other’s glass, causing the latter’s lips to curl upward. Locking gaze briefly, the tanned man feels a sickening twist in his stomach.

“Because I am here to hunt my favourite prey and I’ve invited you to join me in having some fun,” Sehun raises his glass in cheers, “And also, he might help us lure a bigger prey out into the open.”

“I don’t have the same weird hobby as you, Sehun.” Jongin breaks their gaze and looks outside the window. The snow is still falling, covering everything in a layer of icy whiteness and adding a hue of pinkness to the sky. A man dressed in a fitted wool coat walks into the alley way, his black combat boots contrasting harshly with the pale snow. Jongin’s brows knot when he sees the soft features on the man’s attractive face. He vaguely recalls seeing him when he visited Sehun as a teenager in Japan.

“It’s not a hobby, it’s a way of showing my love.” Sehun replies calmly, also looking down at the man that just strolled into the alley. Sending a text with his phone, he leans back into his seat and smiles wickedly at his older cousin. “We have the same blood of insanity flowing through our veins, hyung. You just haven’t found the right person. Don’t worry, I’m sure you will fall in love soon.”

Jongin clicks his tongue in annoyance and mumbles: “That’s some fucked up way to love…” The smile on Sehun’s face widens as he pushes his glass to collide with the other’s flask, sounding a crispy cheer in the dimly lit bar. Coolly, the two men sip on their drinks and watch as a group of men in black jumps out of the hidden corners of the alley. After a brief moment of struggle, the wool coat man collapses to the ground. Jongin runs a hand slowly through his matted pink hair and looks away from the window.

“Let the fun begin.” Sehun whispers, his eyes still glue to the man lying in the frozen whiteness.

A gust of wind scatters loose snow all over the limp body as a man in black throws him over his shoulder. A small red light blinks silently inside his shoes without anyone noticing. In a hazy, Baekhyun hears the familiar voice he has hoped to never hear again call him from a distance. Letting darkness overtake him completely, he sighs sadly. Now, winter is ruined for him too.

\---

Chanyeol stumbles into the café and stifles a yawn. The clock strikes exactly two minutes pass nine. The bell above the door jingles a crispy ring, catching the attention of the three others inside. Looking up from his book, Kyungsoo nods at the smiling giant and Jongdae hums hello from behind his laptop, preoccupied. Xiumin glances at him briefly before going back to making coffee. Shedding his coat careless on the back of a chair, the arsonist joins his friend at their usual meeting table.

“Wow, you guys are just as cold as the weather today,” he whines and picks at the plate of muffins on the table, “Where’s Baekhyun? I need someone to cheer me up.”

“He’s late,” Xiumin replies as he approaches the table with a tray of mugs, freshly pressed coffee, and milk and sugar. “You’re late too, Chanyeol.”

“Only by like two minutes,” the tall man mumbles and takes a bite of the muffin, “and I’m not the last person here, so it’s all good with me.”

Xiumin gives him a pointed look but decides not to further this meaningless conversation. As four of the five mugs fill up with coffee, a single empty mug stands flipped in the tray looking lonely. Everyone savours the warmth of the beverage, except Jongdae who stares perplexedly at his computer screen.

“I don’t think Baekhyun is going to be here any time soon,” he says breaking the peace in the small shop, “He’s been staying stationary at some place in the outskirt of Seoul for a while now.”

Chanyeol raises a quizzical brow at the hacker’s words. “Uh, how do you know that?”

“Because I am tracking him.” Jongdae replies as a matter of fact. Kyungsoo turns to look at him too, both his and Chanyeol’s face twisted in disbelief and confusion.

“Wait, what do you mean you are tracking him?” The arsonists questions and places his mug on the table. Next to him, Xiumin continues to sip on his coffee calmly, as if all of this is old news to him.

“It means I put a tracking device in his shoes so I know where he is 24/7. That’s what tracking means, Chanyeol.” The hacker replies and picks up a blueberry muffin. Kyungsoo slaps his hand and knocks the muffin out of his hold. “Ow, what the hell Kyungsoo?”

“That’s called stalking!” Chanyeol shouts and waves his lanky arms around in the air, “This is why Baekhyun has problem trusting you, because you act like a fucking stalker, Jongdae!”

The hacker directs his glare from Kyungsoo to his tall friend. “No, it is called  _tracking_ ,” he utters the word with especial emphasis, “It’s for his safety.”

“How is that for his safety?” The arsonist retorts, bewildered; his deep voice thundering in the shop, “You don’t track the rest of us, do you? You only track Baekhyun! Just because you like him, it doesn’t mean you have to become his stalker!”

“Who the hell says I like him and what the fuck does that have to do with anything?” Jongdae snaps and slams his laptop shut. Chanyeol jolts backward slightly at the other’s burst of anger; it is rare to see the hacker lose his cool. An uncomfortable and tense silence settles in the coffee shop. Chewing on the only blueberry muffin, Kyungsoo glances warily at the frowning man brooding next to him. Jongdae’s temper has been attached to a short fuse lately, especially when it comes to matters related to the con artist. Finally, Xiumin lowers his mug and wordlessly dials Baekhyun’s number. The phone rang until it went to voice message and Baekhyun’s cheery voice echoes through the phone speaker.

“Hi, I can’t pick up your call right now. Please leave your name and number, and I will call you back as soon as I feel like it. Hugs and kisses!”

The busy tone buzzes through the speaker and Xiumin hangs up. However before he could redial, the con artist’s name flashes on the screen. Picking it up immediate, the leader puts him on speaker phone.

“Baekhyun, where are you?” Xiumin questions, “You’re late.”

“Hello, friends,” a stranger’s voice sounds from the other side of the phone, a lisp barely visible in his words, “Or should I say, Baekhyun’s friends?”

Xiumin's cat like eyes narrows and the rest looks at each other in alert. No one is speaking, for they are not sure what should be said. The voice chuckles in delight, thoroughly enjoying the muted suspense on the other side of the line.

"Now we all know I'm not going to tell you who I am because obviously, that's also part of the game," the voice says in nonchalant, making Kyungsoo glare harder at the phone on the table. "Confused? That's alright. Let me explain to you the little game we are going to play." 

Jongdae slowly flips open his lap top again and stares intensely at the flashing red dot on the map. 

"This is a game I like to call Rescue the Mouse from the Cat. Naturally, I am the cat. I've captured one of your little mouse friends so before he gets eaten bones and all, you need to find him. You will get three free clues from me in the next three hours through this phone, and each clue afterwards will cost your little friend who’s at my mercy." 

The sound of knuckles cracking interrupts the quietness in the shop as Chanyeol balls his fist too tightly. However before he could let out an insulting cry, Xiumin grips his arm and quiets him with an intimating glance. Shrinking back into his seat, the arsonist seethes in anger. Across from him, Jongdae works quietly on his computer to get an exact location. 

"Of course since I am a generous man, if you manage to rescue your little friend within twenty four hours, you will also receive a handsome reward of 1 million USD from me." The voice continues smugly, "Oh, and no cheating! Good luck." 

The red dot on Jongdae's screen vanishes suddenly and the call is cut off. Cursing at the disappearance of their only lead, the hacker works desperately to try and recover the tracking device. Chanyeol swiftly grabs the phone off the table and presses hard on Baekhyun’s number to redial. But no matter how many times he calls, it always goes straight to voice mail. 

"Hi, I can’t pick up your call right now. Please leave your name and number, and I will call you back as soon as I feel like it. Hugs and kisses!" 

"Fuck!" Chanyeol yells and tosses the phone down at the table. Across from him, Jongdae glares murderously at the unmarked map on his computer screen while Kyungsok looks quietly to the leader for direction. Grabbing his phone and pocketing it, Xiumin tugs on the arsonist's arm for him to take a seat. 

"You need to stay calm, Chanyeol." The leader starts and pours the other more coffee, "This is bad news but let's also give some credit to Baekhyun. He always survives and I'm sure he will be alright this time around too." 

"At least within the next 24 hours." Kyungsoo adds and Xiumin nods. Looking over at the hacker who is surprisingly calm and composed at the moment, the leader consults for his opinion. 

"What do you think, Jongdae." 

The man in question slowly shuts his laptop again. "That was Oh Sehun." He says quietly, his tone harsh and voice raspy, "that son of a bitch. I was afraid he might pull some shit like this." 

Everyone’s eyes fall on him. Chanyeol bites back an apology for what he said earlier; this obviously is not the time or place to do it. Supporting his forehead with his hand, Jongdae reviews their current situation and available options quickly but carefully in his head. After a brief moment, he speaks up. 

"I think we should review the clues he's going to send us in the next few hours and go from there. 24 hours isn't long, but it's also plenty of time for us too." 

"Can't we track Baekhyun hyung's phone?" Kyungsoo asks quietly, glancing worriedly at Chanyeol who is slumped deep into his chair with a deadpan face. There is that particular sheen of darkness flickering in his eyes. Kyungsoo recognizes that look; it's the look before the arsonist burns. 

"Tracking the phone will lead us to Oh Sehun but not necessarily Baekhyun," Jongdae answers, "but I'll do that anyways." 

Xiumin contemplates for a moment then agrees.  "Okay, let's wait for the clues. Once I receive each one of them, I will also forward them to all of you. I don't think we can all just sit around and wait, so let's try to gather some clues ourselves. Chanyeol," he turns to the arsonist, "why don't you see if you can find any news from your friends in the black market. And take Kyungsoo with you." 

The boy looks up in surprise; Xiumin has always tried to keep him away from the black market. However when he meets eyes with his guardian, he understands why. Chanyeol is emotionally unstable right now so to prevent him from hurting anyone or anything, Kyungsoo needs to stay by his side. Nodding solemnly, he chases after Chanyeol who dashed for the door the second Xiumin finished speaking. The two figures disappear in a hury through the door with a loud trill of the bell. 

"I'm going to call Onew and pay Changmin hyung a visit, see if they are able to help." Xiumin says, reaching to give a comforting pat on Jongdae's forearm. "I trust you know what you're doing?" 

Jongdae nods.

"Great, be careful. Oh Sehun is with the Kims." 

"I know." The hacker answers and turns on his laptop again. Xiumin sighs and walks out of the shop from the back, leaving Jongdae to work alone. Outside, the snow returns and flurries of icy flakes fall silently to the ground. Pulling out his phone, Jongdae sets an alarm for 9:02 AM. His fingers tremble as he presses okay and sets the clock in motion. Letting out a shaky sigh, his heart wrenches in pain as if being stabbed over and over again. He was hoping he could run from his feeling for a while longer, but Jongdae realizes that he can’t run anymore. He’s in love, with the man that will never love.

\---

_TBC_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all the Sehun fans out there, don’t hate me. I love baby Sehun too, but the story calls for what the story calls for.  
> Nobody is a good person in this story, not even Kyungsoo.  
> I’m just gonna leave you with that. Let’s hope I will update here soon again (OTL apologies)! Thanks for reading!


	7. Arc II: Beautiful Liar (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baekhyun arc 1/3

_“Baek, let’s play a game.”_

_Two teenage boys sprawled their limbs across the tatami floor and their legs tangled with each other’s. The bitter smell of matcha lingered in the air from earlier. Outside in the quiet courtyard, petals of cherry blossom fell silently onto the surface of the mirroring pond. Everything seemed too tranquil, much like the calm before the storm._

_“Hm…What game?”_

_A beautiful boy smiled sleepily. Eyes closed, his long lashes fluttered in the afternoon sun. Beside him, another handsome boy with a sharp jaw line and a fair countenance gazed intensely at his soft profile._

_“Tag. Let’s play tag.”_

_The fair skin boy said with a faint lisp to his words. His blue eyes narrowed and a roguish grin spread across his lips._ _The boy with soft features tilted his head and regarded the other with hazy eyes. His purple bangs swipe against his lashes and being lazy, he let the loose hair tumble slowly across his forehead. A breath of spring breezed by, rattling the small wind chime by the window and its elongated shadow swung back and forth on the wall._

_"Why do we always have to play tag... I'm lazy right now. I don't want to run."_

_His grin widened but not reaching his blue eyes, the handsome boy reached over and brushed away the falling bangs. Gently, he pinched the sleepy boy's cheek._

_"It's because I like chasing after you, Baek. It's fun when you run away from me."_

_Their eyes met and Baekhyun felt coldness slither slowly down his back, as if someone just rubbed an ice cube on his spine._

_"It's like hunting a prey,” the blue-eyed boy whispers seductively, “I like hunting."_

_Suddenly, the room darkened and a gust of wind dispersed all the cherry blossoms. Dark rolling clouds gathered overhead and thunder rumbled ominously in the sky. Large pellets of rain drops thrashed against the old roof tiles and a distinct dampness settled in the tatami room. In the dim light, Baekhyun’s breath hitched in a panic as waves of unfamiliar hot flushes washed over his adolescent body. It was hard to breathe and it was even harder to think straight._

_"Wait, Sehun, wh-what are you doing..."_

_“You're my prey Byun Baekhyun and don’t think for one second you can ever escape from me."_

_The owner of the husky voice hovered threateningly close to Baekhyun's burning body and his cold blue eyes peered hungrily at the trembling boy. Terrified, Baekhyun wanted to shout out but fear sealed his throat. Slowly, Sehun lowered his body and roughly rubbed their hardness together, extracting a painful gasp from the tense body beneath him._

_"Shhhh," Sehun whispered and his lusty eyes met with Baekhyun's teary ones, "Good boy…good boy…"_

_“NO!”_

Baekhyun jerks awake. Staring wide-eyed at the multiple monitors affixed to the wall of EXO’s surveillance van, he heaves frantically. He hasn’t dreamt of that person in such a long time. It is all because of that text a few weeks ago, the con artists scowls quietly and brings his hands to cover his bagged eyes. Enjoying total darkness as his heartbeats return to normal, he sinks into his seat. Two pairs of curious eyes watch his every move from the side. Baekhyun curses in his mind and waits for the incoming questions.

Black and white images of streets and a house twitch erratically on the old monitor screens. Kyungsoo gulps and carefully observes his two hyungs. He can tell that something is wrong, not just with the con artist but also between him and the hacker. Since the other has jolted awake, the dark glint in Jongdae’s eyes did not go away. Noticing Kyungsoo’s sharp eyes on him, the hacker returns a pointed looked at the boy and gives him a rough nudge on the arm. The van settles back into silence and the sound of breathing suddenly becomes very pronounced. Annoyed at the stiff atmosphere, Baekhyun snaps in a low voice.

“Out with it or hold your fucking peace forever.”

Glaring at Jongdae, who nudges and sends him another look, Kyungsoo asks almost timidly.

“Um… Are you alright, Baekhyun hyung?”

The man in question rolls his eyes, and the hacker shoves Kyungsoo’s shoulder impatiently. The boy glares harder at Jongdae and slaps back with double the force. Ignoring the other hissing loudly in pain, Kyungsoo asks again, still sounding somewhat hesitant.

“Hyung… Who’s Sehun?”

Baekhyun puts his legs up on the edge of the control station and leans back and forth against the back of his chair. The silence in the van is replaced by the squeaking of the chair, trying not to break apart underneath the con artist’s waving weight. Watching the other’s movements, Jongdae almost starts tapping his feet out of irritation. He is never the one for patience; if he wants something, he gets it. That’s precisely why he became a hacker. Kyungsoo on the other hand continues to watch Baekhyun with curious eyes. It is rare to see the other in such a bad mood that he gets bags under his eyes; ‘Looks are everything to a successful con artist, aside from a brilliant mind of course,’ the charming man would always say with a wink. 

“How do you know that name?” Baekhyun asks suddenly, his tone light as if he just asked about the weather. Jongdae groans out of frustration and interjects Kyungsoo before the boy could speak again.

“You know exactly how we know,” the hacker says in agitation, much to Kyungsoo’s surprise. However Baekhyun isn’t. He knows Jongdae has been going around sniffing about his past since couple of weeks ago, after their little awkward incidence in Busan. The con artist doesn’t understand why the hacker holds so much interest in him, but he doesn’t like it. His life is messy enough already; he does not need someone to stir up more shit by rummaging through his past.

“You were mumbling that name in your sleep,” Jongdae composed himself again, trying to sound as nonchalant as ever as he fiddles with the computer in his lap, “So, who is this Sehun you dream of even when we are in the middle of a job?”

Baekhyun narrows his eyes but quickly masks his mood with his usual charming smile. Getting up from his seat, he ruffles Kyungsoo’s hair and get an earful of very loud and very verbal protest. Without even sparing a glance at Jongdae who is also busy pretending not to care about him, he grips on to the door handle. Back turned towards his teammates, Baekhyun responds flatly.

“Oh Sehun was my best friend,” then with a jerk of his wrist, the van door slides open and the dim street light pours in. Taking one look at Chanyeol who waves cheerfully as he approaches the van, Baekhyun turns around and smiles faintly. 

“He also raped me.”

His voice was as cold as the freezing February wind. Scoffing quietly through his nose, Baekhyun’s fingers fall limply from the door handle and he walks off, leaving behind a shocked Kyungsoo and a frozen Jongdae. When he brushed shoulder with Chanyeol, he glances judgingly at the arsonist’s shirt.

“That is a hideous shirt, Chanyeol, burn it,” the con artist comments and disappears down the road. Offended and confused, the arsonist complains to his friends inside the van.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” he asks while holding on to the door frame, “What crawled up his ass?”

Kyungsoo buries his face in his hands and mumbles “you’ve no idea how inappropriate that is right now”, making Chanyeol even more confused. Turning to Jongdae for clarification, he is only greeted with the hacker clutching his teeth tightly and typing furiously away at his laptop. Poking Kyungsoo on his arm, the arsonist asks quietly.

“What’s wrong with Jongdae too? Did he fight with Baekhyun?”

Kyungsoo looks up and sighs. Getting up from his seat, he shoves Chanyeol away from the van. Ignoring the other’s whiny protest, Kyungsoo drags the giant off and slams the door behind them. Silence and dimness return to the van as the black and white images on the monitors continue to twitch. Pausing from his typing, Jongdae stares blankly at the profile information of Oh Sehun on his computer screen. The eerie glow of the screen illuminates his emotionless face and a dangerous glint flickers in his eyes. He’s afraid that Baekhyun was not lying for once and that sets his heart on fire. 

In one of the monitor screens, Baekhyun’s slight figure can be seen standing in the snow, leaning against an icy fence. Taking a drag from his cigarette and exhaling slowly, the con artist watches as puffs of smoke floats up to the dim street light. He hates winter, but at least it’s not spring time. He really hates spring.

\---

Yixing looks up at Xiumin from adjusting Luhan’s medical ventilators.

“Is that frown permanently stuck to your face all the time or just when you see me?” The doctor asks flatly and to his amusement, the frown on the other’s face deepens.

“How is he?” Xiumin asks instead and avoids the doctor’s question. Approaching the bed, he sits down by Luhan’s side. Brushing a stray hair away from the other’s pale face, his hand traces gently down the sleeping man’s angular jaw line. The doctor watches without any inhibition and answers calmly.

“Fine,” he flips through the charts again, “everything is stable, and his organs are also functioning well.”

Xiumin nods and lets out a small breath of relief he didn’t even realize he was holding. Eyes still glued to the sleeping man’s tranquil face, the EXO leader gently wraps his hand around Luhan’s freezing ones. Behind him, Yixing begins to pack up. However before he could slip away in the night, Xiumin stops him with another question.

“How much longer?”

Pausing at the door, the doctor turns to face the man frowning once again at him. Chuckling at the consistent expression on the other’s face, Yixing answers in his usual flat voice.

“Soon.”

“What exactly does soon mean?” Xiumin presses on, a suppressed urgency embedded in his tone, “It has already been three years. Are you still waiting for the parts of the machine? I thought Kris already gave you those. Or are yo-”

“I need more time with Kyungsoo.” Yixing interjects and a steely sheen coats his eyes. Looking straight into the other’s burning gaze, the doctor repeats himself firm and clear. “I need more time with Kyungsoo.”

Xiumin tightens his hands around Luhan’s cold ones, leaving behind disturbing red marks. However he did not rebut the doctor and nods in understanding instead, even if the anger is boiling inside of him. Ever since he lost Luhan to the coma, Xiumin felt more pathetic and powerless than he ever had in his entire life. Constantly, he feels like a pawn being used in a game he cannot see the entirety of. This was why he chose to leave the lab, then the gang life behind in the first place; but like always, the course of his life is rarely of his choosing. Subconsciously feeling the code inked on his back stinging mockingly, Xiumin looks away from Yixing.

“Just don’t hurt him.” He mumbles and bares the pain of guilt eating away at his heart. The doctor raises an eyebrow and amusement dances in his eyes.

“Don’t hurt him?” Yixing retorts, “For someone who sold the boy to me as payment, I didn’t think you’d care so much.”

“I didn’t sell him to you!” Xiumin snaps and stands up suddenly. Swiftly closing the distance between them, he holds back the urge to punch the doctor while he bites each word out through his teeth. “It’s just a trade. You were after research and I was seeking for a method to wake someone from a coma. I provide you with research material and you cure Luhan. I am not selling Kyungsoo and never had sold him to you! I care a lot about him; he’s practically a real brother to me!”

A small smirk surfaces on Yixing’s face as he feels Xiumin’s hot, huffing breath merely inches away from his face. Placing a hand on the other’s shoulder and giving it a firm squeeze, a dim glint of insanity sparks in his dark orbs.

“Exactly, he is the research material you sold to me in exchange for my medical expertise. Don’t lie to yourself too; it’s bad enough that you already lie to Lu.” The doctor says while nodding at the comatose patient on the bed. Chuckling in satisfaction at the pain and self-loath filling up in Xiumin’s sharp cat eyes, Yixing loosens the grip on his shoulder and gives it a pat instead. “Don’t worry, I’m not hurting him. I’m only getting urine and blood samples from him. I’m not crazy enough to cut up your person, yet.” Xiumin locks eyes with the doctor and a shiver surges down his back. “Good night, Kim.”

Still smirking, the doctor bows politely and walks out of the apartment. Glaring at the front door, Xiumin balls his hand into a fist, almost drawing blood from his palm with his nails. Turning back into the room where Luhan lies silently throughout the entire exchange, the leader delivers a powerful punch into the back of the lounge chair he always napped in. Bending over and panting for breath, Xiumin shuts his eyes and apologizes over and over again in his head. He apologized to Luhan, to Kyungsoo, and to himself. He apologized for being weak, for being untruthful and for becoming someone he has always hated: a manipulative bastard trapped in the game of money or hell. Laughing bitterly at himself, he watches the snowflakes dance wildly in the wind.

‘You remind me of the snow Xiumin,’ he remembers Luhan used to say as they huddled by a burning garbage can for warmth in the bleak winters, ‘so clean and cold… just like the snow.’ 

“Still cold but no longer clean…” Xiumin whispers in the dimly lit room. His phone buzzes in his pocket and bring it to view, he sees a goodnight message from Kyungsoo. Staring blankly at the screen for a moment, he then replies to the message. Tossing his phone onto the lounge chair, he walks over to Luhan again. Curling up next to the sleeping man, Xiumin holds the other’s cold hand against his cheek and tries to forget about Yixing’s words. The wind and snow are picking up outside, blinding people from the sceneries of the world. It’s another cold, cold night.

\---

Crunching the snow beneath their feet, Chanyeol and Baekhyun stroll leisurely down the path away from Kyungsoo and Jongdae’s apartment building. Around the corner, the light of a small food shop is still on and Chanyeol cheers happily, jogging towards it as fast as he could. Shaking his head and chuckling at the giant’s high spirit, the con artist follows and they duck into the small shop. Mumbling about the cursed winter weather, Chanyeol chugs down the hot tea in one gulp and pours himself another cup, before chugging it down in one go again. Across from him, Baekhyun carefully blows on the hot liquid and enjoys the faint bitter aroma. The shop is practically empty, with only the two of them in one corner and two half-drunk old men slurring away in the opposite corner. Soon their food comes and both men dig in without holding back. Halfway through their meal, Chanyeol speaks up first with his mouth half full.

“What’s up with you today, so quiet.” a single grain of rice flies out of his mouth and Baekhyun pulls his bowl closer to himself, “Did you get in a fight with Jongdae?”

“Kyungsoo is right, you really are disgusting sometimes.” The con artist mumbles with a cringe on his face, judging unfavourably at the other’s messy eating style. Chanyeol cared not for his teasing and looks at him straight on, waiting patiently for an answer to his questions. Sighing in defeat after a minute of staring contest, Baekhyun replies sluggishly.

“No, we didn’t get into a fight. I’m just not in a good mood.” He looks down at his half eaten food, “Oh Sehun is back in town.”

Chanyeol pauses from his chewing and stares dumbly at the con artist. He has learned of this Oh Sehun and what he did to Baekhyun when they were both drunk out of their mind one time. Until today, the arsonist cannot forget how bad he felt when he saw a smile rather than a tear on con artist’s face as he told him the horrible deed the other had done when they were only teenagers.

“What sucked the most was that I can’t even bring myself to hate him!” The then drunk Baekhyun slurred and slammed a bottle of soju on the table repeatedly. “He was my first love, Chanyeol… What kind of fucked up first love is that, hm?”

That night, Chanyeol wept for his best friend until his eyes were swollen shut and Baekhyun hugged his best friend, mumbling ‘it’s alright, it’s all over now… I’m alright’ until they both fell asleep on the train.

“I told Kyungsoo and Jongdae what happened too,” the con artist squeezes out a fake smile, “I guess we are bonding!”

Chanyeol blinks then nods slowly. Gulping down the food in his mouth, he reaches out a warm hand to hold Baekhyun’s cold one.

“If you need me in any way at all, talking or drinking, but no sleeping or sexing, then I will be there for you!”

Surprised at the other’s heartfelt offer and the severe look on his face, Baekhyun gawks for a second before bursting out into genuine laughter. He is ever so thankful to have the arsonist cheering him up no matter when. Watching his best friend bend back and forth howling with glee, Chanyeol relaxes again and joins in on the merriment. Facing each other as smiles reflect in their eyes, Baekhyun feels very lucky that he has a best friend like Chanyeol, someone who will always be there for him without judgement. Reaching his hand over, he ruffles the arsonist’s messy locks like he would a dog’s fur.

“Ya, keep your dirty hand off of me!” Chanyeol shouts with his mouth full again and another stray grain of rice flies out of his mouth.

“Ya!” Baekhyun shouts back, dodging the flying white spec, “You’re disgusting! Is this how you talk to your hyung?”

Chanyeol scoffs and more grains of rice shoot out of his full mouth. “Pfft, what hyung! We are the same year!”

“Still six months older than you, so I’m hyung okay?” Baekhyun argues childishly, making the smiling giant roll his eyes. Raising an eyebrow, the con artist teases his best friend again.

“Tsk tsk, look at your eye roll. You look exactly like Kyungsoo,” he smirks slyly as Chanyeol glares at him with a faint blush on his cheeks. Putting on a face that’s a bit more serious, he leans in closer and whispers.

“Do you like Kyungsoo that much, Yeol? Do you think it’s love?” Baekhyun winks but instead of the embarrassed Chanyeol he has anticipated, his best friend falls into silence and contemplates his question seriously.

“What do you think love is, Baek?” The arsonist retorts with a question and faces his friend in all seriousness. “I used to think love is the happy feeling I get when I spend time with my dad, or making bombs, or burn things. I always thought love is that giddy feeling from the pit of my stomach and that thrill that courses through my veins, delivering the pump of my heartbeat to every corner of my body, whenever I watched flames consume everything in its path.” Chanyeol’s eyes widened in ecstasy and a maniacal glint wavered in his eyes like a raging fire. However at the mention of that boy’s name, the fire in his eyes softens and tames.

“But when I’m with Kyungsoo, I feel those things but also different?” He says slightly doubtful and scratches the side of his head, “I feel excited and I feel giddy, but I also feel scared and I become greedy. I want him to look at me only, listen to what I have to say always, and I want to lock him away from everyone else. Is that really what love is or feels like? If so, I’m not sure if I want to be in love.” The giant lowers his head and his eyes darken; the amber buried deep flickers like a dying fire, “I don’t want to hurt Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun observes his friend carefully then lowers his head too. Without a doubt, he is sure Chanyeol is in love with Kyungsoo. ‘But being the twisted person he is, his love is somewhat perverse, like a weird combination of love and obsession?’ the con artists chuckles at his thoughts. Glancing up, he catches a pensive frown on the other’s face. A pang of envy hits him in the heart; to still believe in love, Baekhyun smiles bitterly, is a blessing he no longer has.

“Sorry buddy, but I don’t think I can help you out,” he says after taking a sip of his tea, “My profession relies on crafting the illusion of love, so I don’t think I know what real love is either.”

Chanyeol snaps out of his pondering and blinks at the con artist. “Don’t you think you’ll fall in love again?” he asks softly but the other avoids his gaze and continues to sip at his tea.

“What about Jongdae? I think he likes you.” The arsonist pushes on, “Don’t tell me you can’t feel the weird vibes he’s been sending you.”

Baekhyun chokes on his tea at his best friend’s word choices. Coughing until he could breathe again, the con artist sends his apologetic friend a glare.

“He doesn’t like me. Those weird vibes are his hacker waves… digging his nose into my business all the time,” he says and narrows his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol questions again, “Kyungsoo thinks he likes you too.”

Glancing lightly at his best friend, Baekhyun answers flatly. “No, but if he likes me then he’s an idiot.” Lowering his head, he focuses on the ring of water left behind by the teacup on the table.

“I’m a con artist. My love will always be a lie because that’s what I do,” he says firmly, “Unless he’s happy living with a lie, then he can go ahead and get involved with me. But I don’t love. I will never love.”

The two old men in the opposite corner stumble out of the door and the shop is left in a state of stillness after the sliding door shuts with a click. Sniffing awkwardly, Chanyeol shoves a spoonful of food in his mouth. Urging his friend to also finish eating before the sun rises, grains of rice escape from the arsonist’s mouth and Baekhyun half laughs and half whines about it. Outside the snow piles up, like the heavy thoughts in their mind.

\---

Yixing looks down at his ringing phone and sighs in annoyance at the flashing number on the screen. Pulling his car to the curb, he picks up.

“Hello Doctor, guess who.” A man’s playful voice sounds over the phone.

“Mr. Oh, please stop calling me. I know who you are with and I am not interested in any of your offers. My answer is still no. So stop wasting my time and yours. Good night.” Hanging up before the other side could respond, Yixing turns his phone off and drops it to the bottom of his bag. Driving down the midnight road, he clutches firmly onto the stirring wheel. He will not share his research so easily with just anyone, especially the case that was lost twenty years ago. Ever since he learnt of it a decade ago, he’s been searching for it desperately. Finally, he is able to come in contact with the only living specimen remaining and he will do anything to ensure that nobody takes his research material away. Yixing’s eyes narrow at the flurries of ice and snow drifting about all around his car; he will never hand Doh Kyungsoo to the Kims, not over his dead body. 

Oh Sehun frowns reproachfully at the phone in his hand before tossing it onto the table with a loud clang. Grabbing his glass of scotch, he sips at it in contemplation. Next to him, a man of matted pink hair and tanned bronze skin also sips quietly at the rum from his flask. Glancing at his cousin, Sehun rolls his eyes in disapproval.

“Jongin hyung, can’t you drink from a glass for once?”

“Nope.” The tanned man answers lazily and drowns a yawn with another sip of rum. There is only the two of them left at the small bar, hidden away on the second floor of an old building in a small alleyway. Jongin scans the bar roughly over and raises an eyebrow at the blue eyed man sitting across from him, who sipped elegantly on his scotch while glancing outside periodically.

“Go ahead, you can ask, I don’t mind.” Sehun speaks up before Jongin could question him. Smirking smugly at his tanned cousin, mischief and arrogance swirled around in the dark blue orbs.

“Why are you in Korea?” Jongin asks while taking another sip of his rum, feeling the warmth of the liquor travel through his body, “Tokyo’s getting too boring for you?”

“Did the family send you to surveillance me or something? No, Tokyo’s fine but I think Seoul is just more interesting right now.” Sehun replies and squinted his eyes into thin lines as he scrutinizes the ice cubes clinking around in the glass, “I heard Suho hyung is hunting for something interesting, something that was lost twenty years ago in ‘the incident’?”

Jongin gives him a warning look at the mention of the ‘the incident’. This is a taboo topic for the Kim Clan because the elders considered it a shameful act that tainted the family’s reputation. Ignoring his cousin’s sharp looks, Sehun continues his talk.

“I thought I could be of a help to him. I may not have the Kim name, but I’ve got the Kim blood flowing in me. After all,” a spark ignites in his dark blue eyes as he is gradually surrounded by a murderous aura, “I love to hunt.”

Unable to hold back a smile at his younger cousin’s perverse hobby, Jongin shakes his head. “Whatever, Sehun. Just make sure you don’t cause any trouble for Suho hyung, or else you’ll get it.”

“If he welcomes me with open arms, then of course there’ll be no trouble.” Sehun leans back into his seat and regards the pink hair man with his eerie blue eyes, “But if he wants to hog all the fun to himself, then he can’t blame me for also joining the race.”

He raises a suggestive eyebrow at Jongin and the latter frowns. Narrowing his eyes, the tanned man observes the pale and handsome man in front of him more carefully. Out of all the cousins in the Kim Clan, Jongin cannot deny he gets along the best with Sehun, even though the other lived in Tokyo for most of his life. Sehun’s mother was a daughter of the Kim family that married a half-Korean man, therefore making him half an outsider to the family business. However Jongin knows full well how terrifying his little cousin’s ambitions are. Despite the clan’s unofficial recognition of Suho as the next family head, Sehun thinks the game has yet to set. “Birthright is bullshit,” the younger man would always say to Jongin in private as his eyes squinted into thin lines from smirking like a sly fox, “the powerful will always emerge victorious, regardless.”

Finishing all the scotch in his glass, the blue-eyed man nods at Jongin. “Any other question, my favourite cousin?”

“Yes. Why the hell are we drinking in this dingy bar?” Jongin asks and pours some of his rum into the other’s glass, causing the latter’s lips to curl upward. Locking gaze briefly, the tanned man feels a sickening twist in his stomach.

“Because I am here to hunt my favourite prey and I’ve invited you to join me in having some fun,” Sehun raises his glass in cheers, “And also, he might help us lure a bigger prey out into the open.”

“I don’t have the same weird hobby as you, Sehun.” Jongin breaks their gaze and looks outside the window. The snow is still falling, covering everything in a layer of icy whiteness and adding a hue of pinkness to the sky. A man dressed in a fitted wool coat walks into the alleyway, his black combat boots contrasting harshly with the pale snow. Jongin’s brows knot when he sees the soft features on the man’s attractive face. He vaguely recalls seeing him when he visited Sehun as a teenager in Japan.

“It’s not a hobby, it’s a way of showing my love.” Sehun replies calmly, also looking down at the man that just strolled into the alley. Sending a text with his phone, he leans back into his seat and smiles wickedly at his older cousin. “We have the same blood of insanity flowing through our veins, hyung. You just haven’t found the right person. Don’t worry, I’m sure you will fall in love soon.”

Jongin clicks his tongue in annoyance and mumbles: “That’s some fucked up way to love…” The smile on Sehun’s face widens as he pushes his glass to collide with the other’s flask, sounding a crispy cheer in the dimly lit bar. Coolly, the two men sip on their drinks and watch as a group of men in black jumps out of the hidden corners of the alley. After a brief moment of struggle, the wool coat man collapses to the ground. Jongin runs a hand slowly through his matted pink hair and looks away from the window.

“Let the fun begin.” Sehun whispers, his eyes still glue to the man lying in the frozen whiteness.

A gust of wind scatters loose snow all over the limp body as a man in black throws him over his shoulder. A small red light blinks silently inside his shoes without anyone noticing. In a hazy, Baekhyun hears the familiar voice he has hoped to never hear again call him from a distance. Letting darkness overtake him completely, he sighs sadly. Now, winter is ruined for him too.

\---

Chanyeol stumbles into the café and stifles a yawn. The clock strikes exactly two minutes past nine. The bell above the door jingles a crispy ring, catching the attention of the three others inside. Looking up from his book, Kyungsoo nods at the smiling giant and Jongdae hums hello from behind his laptop, preoccupied. Xiumin glances at him briefly before going back to making coffee. Shedding his coat careless on the back of a chair, the arsonist joins his friend at their usual meeting table.

“Wow, you guys are just as cold as the weather today,” he whines and picks at the plate of muffins on the table, “Where’s Baekhyun? I need someone to cheer me up.”

“He’s late,” Xiumin replies as he approaches the table with a tray of mugs, freshly pressed coffee, and milk and sugar. “You’re late too, Chanyeol.”

“Only by like two minutes,” the tall man mumbles and takes a bite of the muffin, “and I’m not the last person here, so it’s all good with me.”

Xiumin gives him a pointed look but decides not to further this meaningless conversation. As four of the five mugs fill up with coffee, a single empty mug stands flipped in the tray looking lonely. Everyone savours the warmth, of the beverage, except Jongdae who stares perplexedly at his computer screen.

“I don’t think Baekhyun is going to be here anytime soon,” he says breaking the peace in the small shop, “He’s been staying stationary at some place in the outskirt of Seoul for a while now.”

Chanyeol raises a quizzical brow at the hacker’s words. “Uh, how do you know that?”

“Because I am tracking him.” Jongdae replies as a matter of fact. Kyungsoo turns to look at him too, both his and Chanyeol’s face twisted in disbelief and confusion.

“Wait, what do you mean you are tracking him?” The arsonists questions and places his mug on the table. Next to him, Xiumin continues to sip on his coffee calmly, as if all of this is old news to him.

“It means I put a tracking device in his shoes so I know where he is 24/7. That’s what tracking means, Chanyeol.” The hacker replies and picks up a blueberry muffin. Kyungsoo slaps his hand and knocks the muffin out of his hold. “Ow, what the hell Kyungsoo?”

“That’s called stalking!” Chanyeol shouts and waves his lanky arms around in the air, “This is why Baekhyun has problem trusting you, because you act like a fucking stalker, Jongdae!”

The hacker directs his glare from Kyungsoo to his tall friend. “No, it is called _tracking_ ,” he utters the word with especial emphasis, “It’s for his safety.”

“How is that for his safety?” The arsonist retorts, bewildered; his deep voice thundering in the shop, “You don’t track the rest of us, do you? You only track Baekhyun! Just because you like him, it doesn’t mean you have to become his stalker!”

“Who the hell says I like him and what the fuck does that have to do with anything?” Jongdae snaps and slams his laptop shut. Chanyeol jolts backward slightly at the other’s burst of anger; it is rare to see the hacker lose his cool. An uncomfortable and tense silence settles in the coffee shop. Chewing on the only blueberry muffin, Kyungsoo glances warily at the frowning man brooding next to him. Jongdae’s temper has been attached to a short fuse lately, especially when it comes to matters related to the con artist. Finally, Xiumin lowers his mug and wordlessly dials Baekhyun’s number. The phone rang until it went to voice message and Baekhyun’s cheery voice echoes through the phone speaker.

“Hi, I can’t pick up your call right now. Please leave your name and number, and I will call you back as soon as I feel like it. Hugs and kisses!”

The busy tone buzzes through the speaker and Xiumin hangs up. However before he could redial, the con artist’s name flashes on the screen. Picking it up immediate, the leader puts him on speaker phone.

“Baekhyun, where are you?” Xiumin questions, “You’re late.”

“Hello, friends,” a stranger’s voice sounds from the other side of the phone, a lisp barely visible in his words, “Or should I say, Baekhyun’s friends?”

Xiumin's cat like eyes narrows and the rest looks at each other in alert. No one is speaking, for they are not sure what should be said. The voice chuckles in delight, thoroughly enjoying the muted suspense on the other side of the line.

"Now we all know I'm not going to tell you who I am because obviously, that's also part of the game," the voice says in nonchalant, making Kyungsoo glare harder at the phone on the table. "Confused? That's alright. Let me explain to you the little game we are going to play." 

Jongdae slowly flips open his laptop again and stares intensely at the flashing red dot on the map. 

"This is a game I like to call Rescue the Mouse from the Cat. Naturally, I am the cat. I've captured one of your little mouse friends so before he gets eaten bones and all, you need to find him. You will get three free clues from me in the next three hours through this phone, and each clue afterwards will cost your little friend who’s at my mercy." 

The sound of knuckles cracking interrupts the quietness in the shop as Chanyeol balls his fist too tightly. However before he could let out an insulting cry, Xiumin grips his arm and quiets him with an intimating glance. Shrinking back into his seat, the arsonist seethes in anger. Across from him, Jongdae works quietly on his computer to get an exact location. 

"Of course since I am a generous man, if you manage to rescue your little friend within twenty-four hours, you will also receive a handsome reward of 1 million USD from me." The voice continues smugly, "Oh, and no cheating! Good luck." 

The red dot on Jongdae's screen vanishes suddenly and the call is cut off. Cursing at the disappearance of their only lead, the hacker works desperately to try and recover the tracking device. Chanyeol swiftly grabs the phone off the table and presses hard on Baekhyun’s number to redial. But no matter how many times he calls, it always goes straight to voice mail. 

"Hi, I can’t pick up your call right now. Please leave your name and number, and I will call you back as soon as I feel like it. Hugs and kisses!" 

"Fuck!" Chanyeol yells and tosses the phone down at the table. Across from him, Jongdae glares murderously at the unmarked map on his computer screen while Kyungsok looks quietly to the leader for direction. Grabbing his phone and pocketing it, Xiumin tugs on the arsonist's arm for him to take a seat. 

"You need to stay calm, Chanyeol." The leader starts and pours the other more coffee, "This is bad news but let's also give some credit to Baekhyun. He always survives and I'm sure he will be alright this time around too." 

"At least within the next 24 hours." Kyungsoo adds and Xiumin nods. Looking over at the hacker who is surprisingly calm and composed at the moment, the leader consults for his opinion. 

"What do you think, Jongdae." 

The man in question slowly shuts his laptop again. "That was Oh Sehun." He says quietly, his tone harsh and voice raspy, "that son of a bitch. I was afraid he might pull some shit like this." 

Everyone’s eyes fall on him. Chanyeol bites back an apology for what he said earlier; this obviously is not the time or place to do it. Supporting his forehead with his hand, Jongdae reviews their current situation and available options quickly but carefully in his head. After a brief moment, he speaks up. 

"I think we should review the clues he's going to send us in the next few hours and go from there. 24 hours isn't long, but it's also plenty of time for us too." 

"Can't we track Baekhyun hyung's phone?" Kyungsoo asks quietly, glancing worriedly at Chanyeol who is slumped deep into his chair with a deadpan face. There is that particular sheen of darkness flickering in his eyes. Kyungsoo recognizes that look; it's the look before the arsonist burns. 

"Tracking the phone will lead us to Oh Sehun but not necessarily Baekhyun," Jongdae answers, "but I'll do that anyways." 

Xiumin contemplates for a moment then agrees.  "Okay, let's wait for the clues. Once I receive each one of them, I will also forward them to all of you. I don't think we can all just sit around and wait, so let's try to gather some clues ourselves. Chanyeol," he turns to the arsonist, "why don't you see if you can find any news from your friends in the black market. And take Kyungsoo with you." 

The boy looks up in surprise; Xiumin has always tried to keep him away from the black market. However when he meets eyes with his guardian, he understands why. Chanyeol is emotionally unstable right now so to prevent him from hurting anyone or anything, Kyungsoo needs to stay by his side. Nodding solemnly, he chases after Chanyeol who dashed for the door the second Xiumin finished speaking. The two figures disappear in a hurry through the door with a loud trill of the bell. 

"I'm going to call Onew and pay Changmin hyung a visit, see if they are able to help." Xiumin says, reaching to give a comforting pat on Jongdae's forearm. "I trust you know what you're doing?" 

Jongdae nods.

"Great, be careful. Oh Sehun is with the Kims." 

"I know." The hacker answers and turns on his laptop again. Xiumin sighs and walks out of the shop from the back, leaving Jongdae to work alone. Outside, the snow returns and flurries of icy flakes fall silently to the ground. Pulling out his phone, Jongdae sets an alarm for 9:02 AM. His fingers tremble as he presses okay and sets the clock in motion. Letting out a shaky sigh, his heart wrenches in pain as if being stabbed over and over again. He was hoping he could run from his feeling for a while longer, but Jongdae realizes that he can’t run anymore. He’s in love, with the man that will never love.

\---

_TBC_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to a new season of OITNB and Brooklyn nine nine on Netflix, I’ve got the wind to write a new chapter. 7k in 24 hours, with some kayaking sandwiched in there. I’m proud of myself, okay? I’ve spent quite some time thinking about Baekhyun’s arc because I wasn’t sure where it was going before. Now I’ve figured some logistic out, I think I know how it fits into the larger story :) Also all the Sehun fans out there, don’t hate me. I love baby Sehun too, but the story calls for what the story calls for.
> 
> Nobody is a good person in this story, not even Kyungsoo.
> 
> I’m just gonna leave you with that. Let’s hope I will update here soon again (OTL apologies)! Thanks for reading!


	8. Arc II: Beautiful Liar (Part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baekhyun arc 2/3

Somewhere in the heart of Seoul, Xiumin swings open the door to a tiny bar. A quiet grunt greets him from inside, amidst tendrils of cigarette smoke rising to the ceiling. Despite the bright sunshine outside, the bar is a separate world of darkness and mystic. Xiumin enters in quick steps. He’s running out of time. They all are.

“Hyung.”

Changmin turns around with a cigarette tucked loosely in between his lips. He nods at the EXO leader to sit and takes the last drag from his smoke before disposing the butt into an overly full ashtray. With practice hands, he concocts a whiskey sour for his visitor and slides it across the bar top. His glass eye shimmers eerily under the incandescent bar lights as he watches the other man take a small sip. Xiumin tries to hide his grimace tasting the drink but fails to. He has never been one to enjoy alcohol, but Changmin and Yunho always insisted that a man should drink when discussing important matters.

“You think after all these years, you’d be able to handle your alcohol already,” the bar master chuckles at the uncomfortable expression on the quiet man’s stiff face as he pulls out another cigarette, “but it’s nice to see that something never changes.”

Xiumin smiles faintly and swirls the amber liquid in his glass, watching as the large chunk of ice slide from side to side. It seemed like another lifetime when he and Luhan were prowling the street under Changmin and Yunho, the Twin Dragons on the eastside of Seoul. They were still wild and fearless teenagers then, living life day by day without any care for consequences. And the Twin Dragons used to be the kings in their territories, ruling ruthlessly with an iron grip and keeping control over all matters shady, illegal and dangerous happening on their turf. Luhan worshipped Yunho as if he was a God and the older man trusted the boys. They were the right-hand men for the Twin Dragons as well as blood brothers. They were the closest thing to a family Xiumin has ever had.

But like all good things in life, the glory days ended abruptly and untimely. Too many tragedies took place on that faithful day, leaving behind unforgettable and unforgivable scars in each of their memories. Yunho died, but his corpse was never found. Changmin survived, but he lost an eye along with his conviction to carry his group forward. Since eight years ago, Changmin hid away to this small bar, and he mourns every moment for the loss of his better half. He is no longer the fierce dragon that once invoked fear with the mere mention of his name. Now he is just a handsome ahjussi who smokes too often, know too much always, and speaks far too scarcely.

“Onew sent me here, hyung” Xiumin places the glass on the counter and cuts straight to the point, “he said you’d know where to find Oh Sehun for sure.”

“Well, that’s not a lie.” Changmin answers with glossy eyes and breathes out a puff of smoke that forms a murky screen between him and Xiumin.

“Though I should warn you, getting involved with Oh Sehun is just as bad as getting involved with Suho. He’s Suho’s little cousin, and the kid usually lives in Tokyo. He’s only been back a month, and he’s already gathering men under Suho’s eyes for the past month. The Kims are not paying him much attention at the moment. They don’t consider him part of the family, but he sees otherwise. He’s beginning to poke his nose into _that,_ ” Changmin’s eyes darkens, “he’s trouble, Minseok. Keep the fuck away from him and keep your boys away from him too.”  

Xiumin sighs quietly and avoids Changmin’s warning gaze.

“I would if I could, but he’s got one of my team members right now, Baekhyun. They have previous ties, and Oh Sehun is threatening to kill Baekhyun if we don’t recover him before next morning. I can’t leave him behind.”

“Are you sure you can’t?” Changmin asks as he nibbles on the end of his cigarette, “because this will lead to much bigger troubles. You won’t just have Suho on your tail anymore.”

“I am sure,” Xiumin answers firmly and looks up straight into Changmin’s eyes, “and I understand my risks. I know what’s coming, now that _he_ has turned eighteen…” the leader sighs again, “if anything, having Baek around adds another layer of security. I won’t need to protect him forever, but he is at his most vulnerable right now, and I promised I would do everything I can in my power to make sure he is safe until he can manage on his own.”

Changmin observes Xiumin carefully for a moment before exhaling a long breath of smoke.

“Okay, if you are sure,” he says with a defeated shrug, “so this kidnapping, what do you know so far?”

Xiumin takes another sip from his glass and grimaces right away at the taste. Smacking his lips together in annoyance, he answers Changmin: “He sent us three clues: a set of coordinates, a photo of what it seems like a warehouse, and another picture of what seems like cherry blossoms in Yeouido. Using the clues, Jongdae pinpointed it to a recently abandoned factory at the edge of the city in the north. It’s Kim property, but I don’t trust the clues. It was all too easy, and Oh Sehun is not a fool.”

Changmin nods and taps his fingers on the wooden bar top. Both men fall into a contemplative silence, their minds pre-occupied with different kind of worries. Finally, Changmin pulls out his cellphone and makes a call in Japanese. He jolts down an address and slides it to Xiumin over the bar after hanging up.   

“That’s where Oh Sehun is staying at. Down the street, there is a furniture store. It’s a branch of his father’s business in Japan. At the back, there is a large storage. I’m afraid that’s all I can help with.”

The EXO leader looks over the address and nods in appreciation. Downing his drink in one gulp, he lets out a throaty grunt and gets up to leave.

“Good luck, Minseok,” Changmin calls from behind, a fresh puff of smoke slowly rising out of his mouth, “you’ll need it.”

Xiumin’s hand freezes on the door knob for a second. He can feel the whisky burn in his travel all the way down to the heels and balls of his feet, persuading him to succumb to the effect of the liqueur. But he recovers and swings the door wide open. Squinting at the brightness of the outside world, he calmly says his thanks and steps out of the bar.  

\---

“Uhh, don’t you think you should do something about _that_?”

A pair of wide almond-shaped eyes perpetually decorated with dark circles gawks at the young man looking at a map on his phone.

“What?” Kyungsoo asks carelessly and stares back, widening his eyes on purpose to match the other man’s peeved gaze. A shrill scream followed by incoherent babbles and a menacing growl pierce through the chilly afternoon air.

“ _That_.” Tao bites out through gritted teeth and points to the centre of the grimy, empty factory warehouse. Tied to a chair and gagged, a middle-aged man is sweating profusely while whimpering. His head is leaning as far back against the chair as he could, trying desperately to distant himself from the torch hovering over his already sparse hair. Chanyeol is standing right in front of him, and the fire in his hand reflects dangerously in his dusky amber orbs.

“What about that?” Kyungsoo asks again as he carefully observes the arsonist. In other people’s eyes, Chanyeol probably looks like a psychopath right now, threatening to scorch a stranger’s head if he does not get the information he wants. But Kyungsoo knows better. He knows that the taller man has already calmed down and is thinking logically again. He can tell from just a look into Chanyeol’s eyes.

“What do you mean ‘what about that’??” Tao freaks out and screams at the calm young man standing by his side, “I didn’t come here to torture people! I don’t dabble in torture! I’m just an information dealer! You were supposed to get information from this man about Baekhyun’s whereabouts, not make him shit in his pants! Why is Chanyeol torturing that guy anyway?? Is that really necessary??”

Kyungsoo cringes at the Chinese man’s loudness and shifts away slightly. Frowning, he coolly responds while Chanyeol continues to whisper threats at his trembling victim without a care for Tao’s panicking state.

“He’s just getting information,” Kyungsoo explains and is immediately interrupted by a bird-like squawk from Tao, which the young man takes as the Chinese man’s unique expression of disbelief.

“Will you just calm down? Everyone has their own way, okay? Torturing happens to be Chanyeol’s method. The man will spill whatever he hasn’t spilled already soon, so calm your tits.”

“Or!” Tao screams in exasperation and points at the stranger again, who is now sobbing and begging for mercy, “Maybe he doesn’t have anything to say anymore! Have that ever occurred to you or Park fucking psychopath Chanyeol?”

The arsonist finally looks over at the mention of his name, and he shares a look with Kyungsoo. They realize suddenly what Tao has said is highly possible, but their determination to find Baekhyun as soon as possible seems to have blinded them from that possibility. Awkwardly, Chanyeol extinguishes his torch and flashes his sobbing victim a shy, toothy grin. Tao rolls his eyes and lets out a string of curses in Mandarin.

“Yes, well,” Kyungsoo fidgets and faces the frustrated information dealer. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watches as Chanyeol tries to untie the rope and separate the man and chair with clumsy fingers, “maybe we went a little overboard. But I thought he’d know more about the situation since he was lurking around this warehouse.” He looks down at his phone again. The screen shows a photo of the exact warehouse sent to the EXO team as a clue from Oh Sehun. Tao glances over and sighs, carefully running a hand over his perfectly styled hair.

“Well, this is a bust,” the information dealer mumbles and looks around the abandoned factory one more time, still finding nothing of significance. Like their previous visit to the coordinates provided by Oh Sehun, Baekhyun is nowhere to be seen.

Xiumin called Tao out to help with the search for Baekhyun. At first, he didn’t want to get involved, even though he and the con artist have been friends for a while. Well, the term friend may be used quite loosely here. Perhaps the term ‘business partners’ better describes their relationship.

The news of EXO working against Suho was already spreading in Seoul and everyone in the underground business is now wary of coming in direct contact with the five men team. Tao included; as a foreigner and someone who makes a living in the darkest part of the shadow, he would rather not be seen with the most talked about people in his trade. However, he cannot resist a handsome pay, and that is why he is currently on an aimless hunt for a man that disappeared into thin air with a fire-loving psycho and what he calls ‘a block of ice in human skin.'

“Now what,” Tao taps his foot and smoothes over the non-existent wrinkles on his long overcoat, “Should w-“

“Soo, watch out!” Chanyeol calls out suddenly, catching the attention of both men standing by the warehouse gate. Kyungsoo’s eyes widen at the sight of a mad man charging at him like a frightened deer desperately trying to escape from a forest fire. Reacting purely on instinct, he balls his fist and takes a swing at the man’s head. They can’t afford for the guy to escape to the police or to Oh Sehun.

With a muffled grunt, the man flies into the air for a split second before landing on the ground with a dull thump and slides backwards across the dusty concrete floor. The factory quiets as the three men gape at the unconscious body lying in between them. Frozen to his spot, Chanyeol looks at Kyungsoo in both awe and concern, who is also standing stiff and staring at his own fist in shock. The arsonist is well aware of the younger man’s unusual strength, but what has happened just now is even unusual for Kyungsoo.

“Fuck!” Tao’s deafening clamour breaks the silence as he runs to examine the fainted body on the ground, “And I thought Chanyeol’s the one I should be looking out for! Apparently not! Remind me never to mess with you, Kyungsoo! …Fuck, that was awesome!”

The young man in question snaps out of his daze and numbly nods at the excited Chinese man. He catches Chanyeol’s worried gaze and takes in a shaky breath. He can still feel it the remnant of it. Something foreign has awakened in his body. It felt strange yet familiar, and it made him feel alive and complete, truer and surer of himself than he had ever been in the eighteen years of his life.

However before he has time to revel more in his new found strength, his phone rings. Chords of the simple ringtone echo throughout the empty factory and Kyungsoo picks up right away. Chanyeol joins the Chinese man in inspecting the unconscious man on the floor, and he roughly binds all of the man’s limbs together with the rope he was using earlier.

“Let’s go, Tao,” the arsonist nods at the information dealer as he careless drags the body towards the gate. Tao scrunches his face in disgust but follows nevertheless while muttering something under his breath.

“It’s Xiumin hyung,” Kyungsoo says when he hangs up, “He said he’s found Baekhyun hyung.”

\---

A cellphone buzzes loudly on the mahogany desk, slowly vibrating its way across the smooth surface. The owner of the phone picks up without tearing his gazes away from the documents in his hand.

“What do you want?” he answers flatly and signs the document, “I don’t care and frankly, I don’t have time to give a horse ass what he’s up to.”

Suho grabs another document and begins to browse through it quickly as the voice over the phone continues to talk. Half way through signing the new document, he pauses abruptly and focuses more on the phone call as a scowl distorts his handsome face.

“And why are you telling me this?” he asks coldly, eyes narrowing in suspicion, “You never cared to help out before.”

A pause and a steady, slow inhale later, the person on the other side replies: “Real families stick together.”

Leaning back into his office chair, Suho takes a moment to contemplate the proposal he was just offered. The family crest embossed on the corner of all the documents comes into his view, and he makes his decision.

“Fine, you have my permission.” He says curtly and hangs up. Glancing out of the large floor length window at the city as he absentmindedly balances the pen on his knuckles, Suho’s eyes gloss over, and the previous phone call replays in his head. Real families stick together.

How cute, he scoffs as the corner of his lips stretches upwards. He used to believe in that too.

\---

Chanyeol rushes into the coffee shop with Kyungsoo a few steps behind. Tossing their coats on a random chair, they walk straight to the corner table where Jongdae has set up camp since morning. With another jingle of the bell on the door, Xiumin enters the coffee shop as well and locks the door behind him.

“Did you validate that address I sent you?” the leader asks and joins his team at the corner table. Jongdae raises his head and scans the three faces staring at him in anticipation and anxiety. They look high-strung and restless, he thinks and wonders if he looks the same.

He has been alone in the shop since Oh Sehun’s phone call in the morning. Although he is just as worried and scared as the rest of the team for Baekhyun, Jongdae found himself to be rather calm after he came to terms with his feelings for the con artist. He thought he’d break out in violent, physical anger like Chanyeol or drown himself in silent uneasiness like Kyungsoo, but in reality, his mind cleared up and has been working like perfect clockworks. He has put his heart to rest with a death sentence of admitting to being in love and without having to battle himself over whether he loves the con artist or if he _should_ love the other man anymore, his brain is back to being the logical, efficient machine it had not been for the past month. It’s strange really, how he used to hear that love makes you irrational, yet love seems to do the opposite for him.

He had a lot of time to think while he analyzed the clues from Oh Sehun and continued to search for Baekhyun in his unmentionable but methodical ways. He thought about his parents’ love, and the love mentioned in books and poetries, and gradually, he began to doubt himself. He didn’t doubt that he is in love, he knows he is, but the quality and sincerity of his love. Jongdae wondered if his love for Baekhyun is ‘love’: the pure and passionate emotion that makes people sacrifice a part of themselves if they have to, and that compels them to be selfless. As he looked deep into his heart, Jongdae realized that despite being ‘in love’ with Baekhyun, he will never be willing to compromise his way of life, put anyone but himself first, or be the nice person his parents believe he is. Love changes people, supposedly the saying goes, but he is not sure if love will change him, at least not in the conventional way that his parents have been or how the books and poetries describe.

_‘So how am I ‘in love’ with Baekhyun then?’_

That was the plateau in self-reflection Jongdae had reached right before the team returned to the shop. An entire morning evidently is not enough for him to figure this out, so he marks a mental note and shoves all of his doubts and confusions back into his heart.

“Jongdae, did you hear what I said?”

The hacker blinks at Xiumin’s frowning face and pulls himself out of his head. He ignores the worried stares from Kyungsoo’s and focuses on Chanyeol’s impatient taps on the messy table instead.

“Where’s Tao?” the hacker asks.

“He said he’s done enough for what he was paid for,” Chanyeol clicks his tongue in disapproval, “some friend he is to Baekhyun.”

“I’m not sure I’d call them friends,” Jongdae retorts with a quirky smile “anyways, that’s not important. What’s important is that Changmin hyung pulled through.” He turns his laptop around to show his teammates a map, and they all lean in a little closer.

“I’ve noticed from before that the three clues form a triangle on the map. See, from the coordinates to the warehouse, down to the cherry blossoms in Yeouido, then up to the coordinates again. But the area within the marked boundaries is really big, and it was taking me a while to scan through all the buildings, and…” Jongdae hesitates for a moment before continuing in a guilty tone, “…and I didn’t notice that Oh Sehun's father owned the furniture shop. It was registered under his Japanese surface, which is Ohgawa, but Oh Sehun doesn’t use that name in Kore- anyways. The point is I wasn’t paying attention because I was-”

“You were distracted,” Xiumin cuts short the hacker’s ramblings and he stares the other man down, sternness reflecting in his sharp, cat-like eyes.

Jongdae gulps nervously and avoids eye contact with EXO’s leader. “Yes.”

“Why? Because you were too preoccupied with your feelings for Baekhyun?’ Chanyeol mocks as he smirks sarcastically and raises an eyebrow.

“What if I am, what’s it to you?” Jongdae lashes out and catches his teammates by surprise. Kyungsoo gawks at him as if he just said he can fly while Chanyeol exclaims dramatically in his face. Xiumin’s mouth simply tightens into a thinner line.

“You’re really in love with Baekhyun??” The arsonist screams in his low, booming voice, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Maybe I am, maybe I am not,” Jongdae replies brashly and pushes Chanyeol’s face away from his with a scowl, “Why do you care, huh? Oh, don’t tell me you’re now in love with him too?”

“Of course I’m not!” Chanyeol denies firmly at once. However rather than facing Jongdae, he shouts at Kyungsoo instead. Startled, the younger man’s eyes widen even more and the tip of his ears turn bright red, unsure of how he should react.

“Enough!” Xiumin slams his hands on the table and puts a definite stop to anymore childish bantering between Chanyeol and Jongdae. A few pieces of paper flutter softly to the ground as an awkward silence settles between the four men. Kyungsoo glances helplessly from and to his agitated and stressed team members. He never thought he’d miss having Baekhyun around, but he so wishes the con artist is here right now. He’d know how to relieve the stifling tension in the room.

Chanyeol is the first to crack under pressure. Ruffling his hair in frustration, he grunts out the question on everyone’s mind: “Can we be sure Baekhyun is in the storage house behind that furniture shop?” 

“Yes. But getting to him will be a challenge,” Jongdae scowls and pulls up two satellite thermal images on his laptop, “I’ve been monitoring the storage house for the last hour and see that cluster of red at the very back? It hasn’t moved at all. I’m pretty sure that’s Baekhyun and he’s bound to something.”

“How the hell do you get your hands on all of these things…” Chanyeol mumbles in amazement at the satellite image, his earlier anger instantly dispelled by the hacker’s remarkable abilities to get his hands on practically anything inside an electronic network or computer system.

Xiumin squints at the spot the hacker is pointing at. Kyungsoo looks around the screen and quietly counts the rest of the many red clusters. Subconsciously, he starts to nibble on the edge of his already short nails.

“It seems like there are a lot of guards…”

“Well, that shows they are at least taking him seriously,” Jongdae shrugs, trying to make the light of the situation. However, his restless fingers and tapping feet betray his actual state of mind. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, the hacker waits impatiently for words from Xiumin with his two teammates.

“Let’s go and physically scout out the building first,” the leader finally speaks up after a good minute of deliberation, “we only have one chance to catch them off guard so we should be well prepared.” He looks down at his watch, 2:47 p.m. There is still time.

“Chanyeol, go and pick out whatever firearms and weapons we will need. If you don’t think they are sufficient, give Minho a call and borrow whatever he has. Onew should have already informed him of the situation.”

“Wait, just you two are going?” Jongdae asks with furrowed brows, “Nuh uh. I am coming too. You’ll need me.”

“Me too,” Kyungsoo quickly adds, “I can help too.”

“I’d rather you not,” the leader refuses the young man sternly then turns to Jongdae, “we can communicate wirelessly, so please stay here with Kyungsoo.” He then gives the hacker a meaningful look, which Kyungsoo also picks up.

“I can handle myself just fine, hyung,” the youngest states darkly and glares at Xiumin, “Stop trying to protect me unnecessarily.”

Chanyeol looks to Kyungsoo, and a pang of pity hits him when he sees the younger man seething with pent up, muted rage. It was never made clear to him why Xiumin is so over protective of Kyungsoo; he just follows orders and to be honest, he rather enjoys his role as the wide-eyed boy’s primary bodyguard so to speak. He always assumed that the protection was necessary because the young man was a child before. However, Kyungsoo is now eighteen, an adult, and especially after seeing how he knocked out the escaping man earlier today, Chanyeol cannot help but agree with the frustrated young man.

“I don’t think Kyungsoo can’t come…?” the arsonist says meekly from the side, and he receives a teasing sneer from Jongdae. Kyungsoo flashes him an appreciated look before returning his full attention to his rebellion. Xiumin grits his teeth and slowly exhales as he sends the youngest a warning glare, trying to reinforce his authority.

“I said no.”

“I’m going.”

“Don’t test my patience, Kyungsoo,” the leader snarls and takes a threatening step forward. Anger like a blizzard in the deep winter brews inside of him and a cold, menacing aura wraps around his body. Kyungsoo shudders instinctively and stumbles backwards as his sways from his earlier conviction. Xiumin is not one to get angry easily, but when he is, it is never a pleasant affair.

“Well, _I_ am going either way,” the hackers says suddenly, slicing through the suffocating tension building up in the room. When Xiumin shifts his anger towards him, he holds up his arms up in subconscious self-defense.

“Hey, you know as well as me how much easier this whole thing could be if I’m right there with you guys, providing the needed technical support every step of the way. And if you’re that worried about Kyungsoo, just bring him along,” Jongdae shrugs, but quickly raises his hands again to pacify their leader as Xiumin lets out an irritated grunt, “or not. It’s your choice. I’m just making a suggestion.”

“I’ll keep an eye on Kyungsoo, to make sure he’ll be fine,” Chanyeol jumps in and flashes the leader a timid, genuine grin, “you’ll listen to me, won’t you Kyungsoo?”

Begrudgingly, the said young man nods with thinned lips, visibly dissatisfied with the compromise he is forced to make. Chanyeol’s grin widens at Kyungsoo’s answer, and he looks expectedly at the EXO leader. At the sight of the arsonist’s hopeful puppy eyes, Xiumin’s anger dissipates, and he sighs in defeat.

“Fine,” he waves his wrist warily at Chanyeol to get on with his assigned task, “just go already. And take your bike. We will take the van and meet you at the furniture shop in half an hour.”

“Got it. Yay field trip!” the happy giant shouts as he bounces to the back of the shop. Kyungsoo and Jongade both send him a ‘what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you’ look while Xiumin judges him harshly with a disapproving, deadpan stare.

“Baekhyun would have said that…” Chanyeol mumbles with a pout and disappears through the backdoor. A few seconds later, the loud rumbles of his motorcycle fade into the distance as the rest of the EXO team also leaves the shop.  

“Promise me you won’t do anything on your own,” Xiumin asks of Kyungsoo as they make their way to the van, giving the younger man a firm squeeze on the shoulder. The wide-eyed man pulls away from the hold and stops abruptly in the middle of the road.

“Why must you do this every time we have a job?” Kyungsoo questions in exasperation.

“I’m doing this for your own good, Kyungsoo. Trust me. You’ll thank me later,” the leader replies quietly. However before the young man could further the conversation, he is interrupted by Jongdae’s hesitant and panicking call from the van. 

“Um, guys?” the hacker shouts and scowls at the tied-up, unconscious man crammed into the back of his van. Kyungsoo jogs up from behind, and when he also sees the body, he visibly relaxes.

“Oh, it’s just that.”

“That?” Jongdae arches a brow, “don’t be so rude, Kyungsoo. At least say ‘him.'”

“Fine, it’s just him,” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and climbs into the van’s back seat from the trunk, shoving the body to the side like a bag of trash, “Just ignore him.”

Xiumin passes by without bothering to look at or comment on the unconscious man and gets into the passenger seat. Jongdae glances at the fainted man one more time, feeling somewhat sorry for the poor stranger but gives no actual shit about it, and tosses his laptop onto the man’s back. Then shutting the trunk with a determination to forget about the content in his trunk for the entire ride, he hops into the driver’s seat.

“Hey hyung, you know thermal images of buildings are illegal, right?” Kyungsoo says seriously as the car starts up. Jongdae glares at the younger man through the back view mirror as he steps hard on the acceleration, propelling the car forward with an intentional jerk. The body in the trunk slams into the backseat with a muffled thump.

“And _you_ know that it’s illegal to beat a man unconscious and stuff him in the back of your hyung’s van, right?” the hacker responds sarcastically. Xiumin smirks to himself while Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose and remains quiet for the rest of the drive.

\---

_A small child looked up at the cloudless sky, his attention captivated by the airplane flying overhead. Tiny legs dangled off the ground as he sat on top of a large suitcase that contains his entire life. He hugged his toy bear closer to his chest and pursed his lips into an adorable pout. He was moving again, and he hated that because even though everywhere was supposedly his home, he never felt like he belonged anywhere._

_“What’s wrong, baby?” A woman dressed in a form fitting trench coat and designer sunglasses walked up to the boy, her perfectly drawn red lips stretched into a charming smile. Softly, she stroked her son’s soft hair with slender fingers bedazzled in jeweled rings._

_“I don’t want to go…” the boy mumbled into his stuff bear and sniffled for dramatic effect, “why must we move again?”_

_The woman’s eyes softened behind dark lenses and gracefully, she leaned down and pressed a tender kiss on her son’s forehead. Cupping the boy’s small face in her hands, she explained patiently: “Because if we don’t go, mama might end up in jail. We don’t want that, do we?”_

_The small boy wrinkled his nose and shook his head. Still displeased, he reached up for a hug and his mother cradled him in her arms, careless of the creases forming on her expensive coat. The boy breathed in the faint aroma of exotic perfume and relaxed in his mother’s arms. Playfully, he removed her sunglasses and peered into eyes identical to his own, full of mirth and always twinkling with mischief._

_“I love you, mama,” the small boy whispered against the beautiful woman’s smooth cheeks and giggled when she nuzzled him._

_“I love you too, Baekhyunnie.”_

_“When I grow up, I’ll buy us a big house, and we’ll never have to live with weird old men or move again!” the boy exclaimed and stretched his arms wide. His mother arched an amused brow, shook her head and tamed his flailing arms. Hugging her son even closer, she spoke nice and slow while patting the back of his head._

_“Listen, son, I’m afraid we will always be on the move because this is who we are and how we live.”_

_“Why?” the boy asked innocently, sadness and confusion swirling in his watery eyes._

_“Because…” the woman hesitated for a moment before her red lips curved into the perfect smile, “because we are butterflies. If we stop at one place for too long, people will want to capture us. So we must keep flying from one flower to the next. We fly to survive. We cannot afford to stop moving.”_

_“I am a butterfly too?” the boy perked up suddenly, and his long lashes fluttered like how butterflies flapped their delicate wings. His mother laughed heartily at her son’s cuteness and batted her curled lashes as well._

_“Yes, Baekhyunnie, you will also be a butterfly, but not yet. When you are old enough, you’ll spout wings unique to who you are, and fly. You’ll be beautiful, Baekhyun.”_

_The small boy smiled brightly at his mother and snuggled into her warm arms again. Eagerly, he shut his eyes and imagined all the colours he’d have on his wings: light green, sky blue, and golden yellow; orange like the horizon of a beautiful dusk, purple like lavenders, and crimson red as vivid as freshly spilt blood._

_“Look what you’ve done, Baekhyun…” a man’s hollow, wearied voice suddenly echoed in the background, “how could you… look what you’ve done…”_

_Blood was everywhere, dripping off the tip of his shaky fingers, splattered across his shocked face, and gushing from the front of the madam’s silk floral blouse. He looks up, and a pair of murky, blue pupils stared deep into his soul, pinning him to his spot in fear._

_“No one can know.”_

Baekhyun jerks awake and his body slams against the cement pole he’s tied to with a dull thud. The restraint around his body digs into his flesh, and he winces silently in pain as his breath hitches in his throat. His body shudders involuntarily from the cold; clothed in just a thin shirt and jeans, his jacket is nowhere to be found. He exhales shakily and watches as puffs of hot breaths float towards the small storage house ceiling. There is a lingering metallic taste in his mouth, and his throat feels smoky and raw. His body has become rigid from being tied up all night and it aches with a stiff soreness. Carefully trying to move his limbs about, the hemp rope wrapped around his body drags his shirt across bruised skin underneath and Baekhyun hisses quietly. Frustrated, the con artist kicks the pole with the back of his heel and croaks angrily, as loud as he could.

“Water! Give me some water, you heartless motherfuckers!”

The two guards stationed metres away ignore him, and Baekhyun is left to deal with silence. Annoyed, the con artist growls and swallows any saliva he can gather in his parched mouth before shouting again.

“I said water, you kidnapping fuckers!” he rasps, his impatient voice echoing throughout the storage house, littered with a few containers and plastic wrapped furniture, “Oi, you two nubs over there! Are you deaf or stupid or both? I said water, you useless shitheads!”

Suddenly a discreet door to the con artist’s left swings open and Oh Sehun emerges with a glass of water in his hand. An unknown smirk stretched across his impeccably handsome face as he saunters towards Baekhyun, who looks extremely displeased to see him. Wordlessly, Sehun force feeds water to his captive and skillfully dodges when the other man tries to spite at him.

“That’s not very nice,” the tall man says glancing at the wet spot on the floor, his blue eyes twinkling dangerously, “is this how you thank someone who’s granting your wish?”

“I could have done worse,” Baekhyun shrugs and spits again, “and you fucking kidnapped me. You deserve anything I do to you right now.”

Sehun’s blue eyes darken at the con artists stubborn words and his smirk fades. Clenching onto the glass in his hand and almost shattering it, he wraps the other hand security around Baekhyun’s slender neck and slowly squeezes. His long fingers constrict the other man’s every breath like snakes choking its prey without mercy, and he watches in a sickening pleasure as Baekhyun gasps in vain.

“I deserve justice,” he whispers darkly and glares into Baekhyun’s trembling, teary eyes, “After all the pain that despicable mother of yours inflicted on my mother, causing my family to break apart, you’re the one that deserves anything I do to you.”

“There is… no justice… in this… world…” Baekhyun wheezes and struggles desperately against the death grip around his neck, “You’ve… already had… your revenge… with me…”

“It will never be enough!” Sehun roars suddenly in the choking man’s paling face, the anger and madness he felt from their shared past overtake his body, “you killed her, and all of you lied to me for years! All of you! I will never forgive you, or him... I will never forgive any of you!”

With another grievous cry, Sehun digs his fingers deeper into Baekhyun’s skin and slams the latter’s body against the cold concrete pole. A hostile fire burns perilously in his fair blue eyes and madness courses through his body. The last pigment of colour begins to fade from Baekhyun’s already white cheeks, and his slender fingers fumble helplessly at the large hand choking his throat.  Eyes that are always filled with mischief and mirth now shimmer with panic and fear, but the con artist’s stubbornness and pride still shine brightly from the depth of his dilating pupils.

Sehun scoffs bitterly at Baekhyun's undying spirit, a characteristic which made him fall in love with the beautiful man in the first place. He had always admired Baekhyun's resilience and perseverance in life. Despite the effeminacy of the other man's appearance and mannerism at times, Sehun knows that there are courage and bravery worthy of the most valiant warriors dwelling within that slender body. Like the eternal light, Baekhyun always persists and insist on shining through even the darkest and most violent storms.

Gradually, the anger dissipates from Sehun's tense body and his death grip around Baekhyun's neck loosens. As the blue-eyed man watches his disheveled captive gasp desperately for breathes in between hacking coughs, a heavy feeling settles in the pit of his stomach, hollowing him from inside out. It seems no matter how many times he had dreamed of killing Baekhyun with his own hands, he cannot do it. They were each other's first love, and the purity of that emotion could never be overwritten by hatred, no matter how much both of them tries to do so. It will stay with them, for better or for worse, and it will forever bind them to their twisted fate.

"Your friends will be here soon," the blue-eyed man whispers after a while, and he gently wipes strands of hair away from Baekhyun's clammy forehead. The latter glances warily at him but does not reject the tender touches. Wordless, they continue to gaze at each other until Baekhyun's breathing evens again and until the silence between them becomes too unbearable. They are both searching for a glimpse of their childhood selves in each other, but neither could find the person they once knew anymore. As much as they want to return to a simpler and happier time, the clock cannot rewind.

Then as abruptly as he has appeared, Sehun leaves the storage house with an empty glass. Baekhyun closes his eyes and lets out a shaky sigh. His bottom lip trembles as a wretched pain pulse dully from the core of chest. He was doing so well, burying the pain, their past, and his guilt towards the blue-eyed man into the depth of his memories, but now all of his efforts have come undone. He is back to exactly where he was three years ago: feeling miserable and more vulnerable than he has ever felt in the 24 years of his life.

\---

Chanyeol casually leans against the side of his motorcycle and pops a handful of tic tacs in his mouth. With a quick snap of his jaws, the mints crush into pieces between his teeth and the loud crunch temporarily replaces the muffled discussion between Jongdae and Xiumin sounding from the communication device in his left ear. As if venting the anxiety and impatience mounting inside of him, Chanyeol chews a few more times until the mints have become nothing but sugary dust melting on his tongue.

It has been three hours since they’ve arrived at the outside of Oh Sehun’s father’s furniture shop and Chanyeol is getting increasingly restless. They’ve already completed the physical scan of the ground as best as they can, sneaking around the perimeter and disguising as customers interested in purchasing housewares. Jongdae was also able to set up some discreet surveillance cameras around the site, as well as acquire more up to date thermal images. Theoretically, they could engage in a surprise attack at any moment, but Xiumin insisted they wait for nightfall when it’d be easier to escape being concealed by darkness.

Chanyeol can understand why Jongdae and their leader are being extra cautious this time because they only have once chance for attack, but the waiting around is mentally destroying the arsonist. A nagging feeling has been bothering him since they arrived as if something bad has happened to Baekhyun or is about to happen. He can only hope that his intuition is wrong this time around.

Bending backward and lying on his bike seat, Chanyeol catches the upside down view of the average storage house behind the furniture shop located across the street. The setting sun is about to disappear behind the metal roof, and the fading light dyes the entire sky orange with stripes of gold, magenta and violet peeking between clouds. As he stares absentmindedly at the warehouse, a piece of leftover mint slides into his throat and he chokes on it. Coughing vigorously, he stands up straight and pats his chest in quick beats.

“You just choked on your tic tacs, didn’t you?” Kyungsoo’s judging voice sounds in his ear through their micro-communication device, and Jongdae’s merciless laugh follows behind.

“No,” Chanyeol manages to choke out in between his coughs.

“There’s no point in lying, idiot,” Kyungsoo scoffs and the arsonist can already imagine the deadpan stare the younger boy would always give him, “I know you too well. You definitely choked on those tic tacs.”

A smile creeps up on the tall man’s face despite his prolonged coughing fit and he half-heartedly reprimands Kyungsoo for his rough affection and disrespect for his elder: “I’m a hyung, Kyungsoo,” his words dripping with doting affection, “you shouldn’t call me an idiot.”

“Idiot hyung then…” the boy’s mumble sounds through Chanyeol’s headphone again, making the latter chuckle.

“Gross guys, flirt on your own time,” Jongdae interrupts the intimate moment, and the arsonist breaks into a hearty laugh. Kyungsoo grumbles a string of curses at the hacker and before long, Xiumin tells him off for swearing at his hyung. Chanyeol leans coolly against his bike again, a small smile tugging at his lips, and he lets the voices of his teammates ease his anxiety.

Soon the dim streetlights tinker on alongside the streets as the sun dips below the horizon, and Chanyeol goes back to crunching tic tacs. The voices in his earphone quiet down as well, and the team waits for darkness to seep completely into each corner and crevice of the neighbourhood. The ordinary furniture shop and storage house suddenly appear a lot more sinister and secretive in the night. The streets have also silenced as the occasional traffic during daytime twiddled to nothing.

Tucked away in the shadows, Chanyeol shoves handful after handful of mint in his mouth until he finally runs out. Clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, he tosses the empty container back into his pocket and surveys the neighbourhood yet again.

“Hyung, something’s happening.” Kyungsoo suddenly reports from his position inside the small convenience store across from the furniture shop’s front, “a lot of people just came out of the store… and they look like… guards?”

“I see that…” Jongdae mumbles with a frown and narrows his eyes at the sight of a dozen men dressed in black suits leaving the furniture shop on his laptop screen. Jongdae analyses that only five people would be guarding the entire building and storage house now, excluding Baekhyun who has not moved from his spot, if the latest thermal image he has is correct.

“Is Oh Sehun one of the people that came out?” Xiumin asks calmly standing next to Jongdae, his eyes also glued to the video on the computer screen.

“I can’t tell… their faces are all hidden, and it’s too dark,” Kyungsoo replies and squints harder at the group of men over the edge of the manga book he has been hiding behind.

“What are they planning?” Chanyeol mumbles from his spot in the shadows. However before any of them can make further speculation, Baekhyun’s shrill and painful scream echoes from the storage house.  

“What’s going on?” the hacker asks urgently, and his frown deepens. Nothing of significance is showing from any of his cameras, and the next satellite image won’t come until five minutes later. Jongdae knows that Oh Sehun is a cunning man, so this could very well be one of his tricks to lure them out into the open; it would be a cruel but effective trap. However, before Jongdae can warn his two teammates, Kyungsoo is already being hasty and on the move.

“We have to go in,” the young man says firmly, abandoning the manga, and dons his hood, “Baekhyun hyung needs us. We have to go in.”

“Kyungsoo, don’t,” Xiumin orders the boy, but the latter ignores him and beginning making his way out of the convenience store. 

“No hyung, I’m going. I’ll be fine. I know I will.”

“Kyungsoo! God damn it, get back inside!” the leader growls in frustration and jumps out of Jongdae’s surveillance van in a hurry, “Chanyeol, get ready to infiltrating from the back upon my command. I’ll grab Kyungsoo.”

“Roger!”

Xiumin breaks into a sprint towards the furniture shop and pulls out a gun, cocking it as he runs. When Chanyeol told him that the wide-eye boy was the one who knocked the escaping man out from this afternoon, Xiumin knew the inevitable has already begun: the power in Kyungsoo’s blood is activating. However as Yixing has warned him, the rapid mutation process Kyungsoo’s body will undergo is extremely unstable and volatile. While he may experience periodic surges in his strength, almost exponentially to what he is used to, most of the time it will make the young man weaker than usual and even sickly until the transformation is complete a year later.  

“Kyungsoo, don’t be foolhardy!” the leader shouts as he runs, “You cannot do what you think you can!”

The wide-eyed youth hesitates for a brief moment at Xiumin’s words but recovers quickly and sneaks his way closer to the store. When he is certain the group of guards has completely vacated the premise, he grips the pistol tightly in his clammy hands and edges towards the hidden side door. Taking a deep breath, he tries to calm his racing heart and suddenly, Xiumin’s urgent scolding booming in his ear begins to fade. Chanyeol and Jongdae’s worried voices that were ringing in his mind also fades away, and the world silences around him. Staring at the gun in his grasp as if in a trance, Kyungsoo awes as the foreign yet familiar sensation from this afternoon returns to him.

His blood feels as if it is boiling and it heats up his body with an unprecedented vivacity. There is a pressing desire to prove himself burning inside his body, fueled by the strange sensation now flooding his every cell. Kyungsoo has never felt this way before, so sure of himself and so confident of a strength he has yet to discover or understand. He can’t quite describe the rush of thoughts and feelings that have overtaken him all of a sudden; perhaps the closest would be a need to demonstrate a new found prowess and manifest the mysterious power pumping in his veins. He doesn’t understand what is happening to him or his body, but he also doesn’t fear it. He welcomes it because it feels natural as if this has always been a part of him.

“Kyungsoo, you promised you’d listen to me!” Chanyeol whispers direly as he crouches in the shadows right outside the storage house, “so please listen to hyung and turn back!”

Glossy eyed still and his plump lips stretching into a brash smirk, Kyungsoo ignores the arsonist’s pleading and places a hand on the door handle. Then with a decisive twist, he swings the door open.

“Fuck!” Jongdae curses loudly in the next second as he watches helplessly at his computer screen. A gun thrusts out suddenly from inside the building, and the muzzle presses directly against Kyungsoo forehead. The young man’s eyes finally uncloud, and they widen in horror at the unexpected attack. Before he can retaliate, Kyungsoo crumbles to the ground.

“Fucking hell!” the hacker shrieks and quickly zooms in on the video with shaky fingers. When he does not spot any splattered brain matters on the ground around the young man’s body, his pinched heart relaxes a little. A loud feedback noise echoes inside each EXO member’s ear as the guard forcefully removes the small communication device from Kyungsoo’s ear, and the transmission cuts short.

“Is he alive?” Xiumin whispers, his voice as cold as ice, and his sharp eyes gawk unblinkingly from a safe distance at the guard dressed in black dragging Kyungsoo’s seemingly limp body inside the furniture shop. He was just one step too late, and if the young man is dead, he would never forgive himself or Oh Sehun.

“He’s alive,” Jongdae sighs, and Chanyeol instantly mirrors his relief, “and surprisingly still conscious, though barely. He was putting up a rather feeble fight against the guard.”

“As long as he is alive!” Chanyeol whispers thankfully, before cocking the guns in both of his hands and rises out of the concealing shadows. “Hyung, I think it’s time to get this over with.”

Xiumin too rises to his feet, and a dangerous sheen flashes through his dark eyes. Pulling out another pistol, equipping a weapon in each of his hand, he marches towards the furniture shop with the intention of delivering vengeance.

“Blood shall be shed tonight, and may God forgive us,” the EXO leader mumbles sincerely then gives out his order.

“Attack without mercy, Chanyeol. Let’s bring our men back.”  

\---

_TBC_

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really like Sehun’s character, maybe partially because I can see a little bit of myself in him. Baekhyun and Sehun share an unfortunate past together, and their pure relationship was destroyed step by step over time by their parents’ greed and desires. This might be confusing right now, but I promise everything (well mostly everything lol) will be explained in the next chapter, which concludes Baekhyun’s story arc.
> 
> Uh, I don’t know what else to say about this chapter. I guess if you have any speculation or any question, please leave them in the comment. I will answer them if it will not spoil the story lol
> 
> Thanks for reading (and thanks for waiting)!


End file.
